A New Challenge
by Hiro Chiba
Summary: Ranma's future is set when all he has to do is to get a job in order to make a living. Cologne arrives to help him get a job, and what better way to get a job and cure himself than to work as a guard in Jusenkyo? Will he be able to handle it?
1. Prologue

**A New Challenge **

-Chiba Hiro

*Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content, it all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.*

**Prologue: **

In Jusenkyo, a thousand or so miles away from Japan, a council meeting takes place between the chairmen and the leaders from Joketsuzoku in the council's meeting tent. They were talking amongst themselves, and the meeting was about to start, and the Officiator of the meeting appeared to be anxious to get the meeting over with. In an attempt to bring order to the loud conversation, he raised his voice above the others.

"Silence!" he shouted (in mandarin) above the talking, and they stopped immediately. "This meeting is about to start. Where is Elder Cologne?" The officiator of the meeting asked.

"I thought she was still in Japan. I'm afraid she won't be able to make it today." One of the leaders of Joketsuzoku explained.

"In that case, we'll have to go on without her..." the officiator said, but he was interrupted by the sound of Cologne hopping in on a walking stick like a pogo stick.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone. It takes me a while to get off the plane, and... you might know the rest." She said. "Now where did you leave off again? I don't think I heard it."

"Uh, well, technically, you are late according to schedule, but since we have not yet started, I think it would be safe to say that you have not missed anything yet. Welcome, Elder Cologne." The officiator said, and gestured for the matriarch to take a seat across from him.

"Now, let this meeting come to pass. First Chairman, please explain the reason why I called you all here today on such short notice." He told the man to his far right, and he stood up and read from the paper he had in his hands.

"Ahem, well, the number of Jusenkyo victims has increased over the last three years, as you may have noticed it. Before then, there used to be at least three victims a month, now it has increased to over six victims a day, and in the course of three years alone, we have estimated the amout to be over sixty thousand victims with curses. We have yet to know how to prevent that large sum of casualties from happening on these grounds again, and it brings us back to why we are here." He explained.

"Can you take over for me, Second Chairman?" he said, turning to the man to his left.

The First Chairman took his seat, and the Second Chairman stood up and presented himself in front of the people.

"Why are we here? We are here to discuss how to prevent sixty thousand or so Jusenkyo curses from being inflicted upon more people. Our lands are to remain secretive, and no one is to know about its existence, or its capabilities except for Joketsuzoku, and Jusenkyo villagers."

"I have a question." Cologne interrupted. "How are you going to keep this secret from getting out to the public? Your friend over there already said that Jusenkyo has acquired over sixty thousand victims in the course of three years. How is it possible that it will not get into the public hands before those sixty thousand victims decide to expose its existence to the rest of the world? You know it is impossible." Cologne said.

"That may be true. Third Chairman, can you take over?" he asked, looking at the man to the left of the officiator.

The Second Chair man took his seat as the Third Chairman presented his ideas.

"First of all, we know we cannot do anything to stop this secret from spreading, and we need to do something to prevent more Jusenkyo victims from falling prey to these curses, and sooner of later they will become a threat to the world if they are not dealt with right at this moment."

"How?" Cologne asked.

"We need someone from the outside to help us prevent more people from falling into the springs, and he needs to be a strong fighter." The Third Chairman said.

"Why do to you need a fighter to help to prevent more victims from acquiring Jusenkyo curses?" One of the elders asked.

"We need someone to be more forceful on people who are stubborn enough to take these curses so lightly. Didn't you know that more than seventy percent of the victims that have acquired the curses have either been martial artists, or Amazons." He emphasized, and the Joketsuzoku elders held their heads in shame that most of their people have curses, but Cologne remained calm.

"If you need a fighter," Cologne started. "Who might you suggest is needed to take this job?" Cologne asked.

"We need someone who has acquired one of the curses, is able to fight well enough, and he needs to be insistent and secretive at the same time." Third Chairman said.

"Well, in that case, I may have one suggestion for you." Cologne said.

"Go on." Third Chairman said.

"I know a young man that would gladly take on this job." Cologne said.

"Who then?" Third Chairman asked.

"His name is Ranma Saotome." She said, and everyone in the room gasped.

"The same Ranma Saotome who defeated Shampoo?" one of the elders asked, Cologne nodded.

"The same Ranma Saotome who defeated the Musk dynasty and the Phoenix?" First Chairman asked.

"Yes. The same Ranma Saotome." Cologne answered them.

"Well then." The officiator started. "Elder Cologne, can we trust you to relay a message to the boy?" he asked.

"Can we even trust the boy?" the elder next to Cologne asked.

"Certainly." Cologne answered them both.

"Tell him what we have said, and that he needs to read this." The officiator handed Cologne a letter, and it was addressed to whoever was concerned. "It states everything that we have said up to this point. Can you do it?"

"I will." Cologne said, and hopped out of the council's tent, ending the council meeting.


	2. Get a Job!

**A New Challenge **

-Chiba Hiro

*Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content, it all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.*

**Chapter 1: **Get a Job!

It is a beautiful day in Nerima, and everything seems to be perfect, the nostalgia fills the summer breeze, and a close up on the Tendo dojo, two middle-aged men were playing Shogi out on the porch while a teenaged boy, with his hair tied in a pigtail, was doing a set of push-ups right next to them.

"Ranma, may I have a word with you?" the man with a bandana asked.

"Sure. Whadda ya want, pops?" Ranma asked as he finished his set of push-ups.

"We need to have a man-to-man talk about your future." The man said.

"Would you like me to step out for a moment?" the man across from Genma asked.

"No, this concerns you as well." Genma said.

*Sigh* "What is it this time, pops? What did I do?" Ranma asked in a bored tone.

"Tendo, you are aware of the fact that Ranma is not contributing as much to your epidemic as much as you hoped, correct?" Genma inquired.

"What do you mean, Saotome?" Tendo asked.

"I mean your financial problems." Genma said.

"Well, there's no need to worry about the money, I have it all covered." Tendo said.

"Sure, you have three unwed daughters, all of them are unemployed, they are almost near adulthood, you don't have a day job either, I can't do anything because I don't own the house, and that just leaves Ranma to do the rest." Genma said with mock irony.

"Pops, what are you going on about with this?" Ranma exclaimed.

"Oh, I see. Ranma, your father is right. You are the rightful heir to this dojo, and the sooner you get a job, the sooner you can have Akane, and the sooner you have that, the sooner you can fully pay for the house's mortgage, and everything else." Tendo elaborated.

"You mean I gotta get a job?" Ranma asked, confused.

"Precisely." Tendo said.

"Well, what about Kasumi, or Nabiki? They're old enough to hold jobs, right? Why can't they get a job?" Ranma asked.

"Because Kasumi is filling in for mother's position and she cannot handle a job at the same time, furthermore, Nabiki will be going off to college in a few months, and you have to think of your future with Akane while you still have a chance!" Tendo explained rather loudly.

"When did I say I agreed to this? I'm sorry Mr. Tendo, but I don't any good jobs out there. And, I'm still going to school." Ranma said.

"Foolish boy, you have absolutely no chance of getting through your education with the grades that you've been getting. You are a slacker, and there is a consequence for laziness!" Genma raised his voice.

"Oh yeah! Well, first of all, at least I passed the sophomore year! That's good enough, right? And second of all, you've never sat me down and talked about school and raising grades before! If I had stayed with mom, then maybe I would be the star student that she wanted me to be, but that's never gonna happen, now is it?" Ranma shouted, and stood up.

"What is done is done, boy! The future can still be changed! You just have to work harder!" Genma argued back, and stood up as well.

"With what? You don't have enough money to pay for a tutor; Akane is in over her head when she tutors me, and I don't even think we can get through one problem without having to brawl about it, and lastly, you never gave me any encouragement, whatsoever! What makes you think that you're not involved in any of this?" Ranma's face flared with anger and curled his fists.

"Enough, you two!" Tendo raised his voice above theirs, and stood between them to keep them from fighting. "You are acting like a bunch of children fighting over a date! Genma, let me handle this." Tendo said, and turned to face Ranma.

"Ranma, your father is absolutely correct. Whether or not you think you need it, you have to get a job, and that's final. Alright?" Tendo beamed at Ranma, and Ranma reluctantly shook his head.

"Fine." Ranma admitted. "What do you want me to do?" Ranma asked.

"I want you to go through town, and look for job openings, it doesn't matter what it is. Make sure they pay you the minimum wage per hour. Do you understand?" Tendo said.

"Does it matter if I get my old job back from the Old Ghoul at the Nekohanten, or from Ukyo at the Okonomiyaki shop?" Ranma questioned.

"Son, don't even think of going there. Go to any job besides those ones. Now get going!" Tendo fumed, and kicked Ranma sky high. "And don't come back until we hear that you've obtained a job!" Tendo called after.

... ... ...

Ranma grew too used to being thrown, kicked, or whacked into oblivion, which is why he landed firmly on the ground without getting hurt, but he was splashed by the old washerwoman. "Damn it!" he exclaimed, and transformed into a redheaded pigtailed girl, when he was splashed. *Sigh* "Why do I even bother?" she said glumly to herself.

... ... ...

Ranma walked past a bunch of retail stores that said they would hire her, but quickly rejected the idea as she saw the people working behind the counter. *Ugh, I might as well subject myself to serial rapists. Retail stores are definitely off my list.* she thought and the men behind the counters stared intensely back at her.

She walked through a series of marketplaces, and stopped at a supermarket that had a sign that read 'hiring new people'. "It's a good a job as any other. If I get lucky, I'll get the clean up duty." She muttered to herself as she wandered through the store.

She stopped one of the employees and asked him where she can find the manager, and he pointed to the right direction.

Ranma went up to the door that said 'manager', and knocked twice. She waited, then the voice of the manager echoed through. "Come in."

Ranma opened the door and walked into the office. The manager appeared to be busy typing something on the computer, and he turned to face Ranma. The manager had big, round glasses, and a shirt and tie for semi-formal reasons.

The manager took his glasses off and gestured for Ranma to take a seat right in front of him, and she did.

"So, what can I do for you, miss?" the manager asked.

"Well, you see, I'm looking for a part-time job, and I was wondering if I can work here." Ranma explained.

"Okay, well, before we begin, can you tell me what you are capable of doing if I were to give you a job position?" the manager asked.

"I'm capable of doing martial arts!" Ranma exclaimed.

"No, I'm sorry, I don't think that martial arts will be applicable to any of the positions here. Is there anything else?" the manager asked.

"Um, I'm pretty strong. Does that count?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure you are." The manager said sarcastically, and checked the computer for positions that were available.

The manager turned to Ranma, and said: "I'm sorry. We don't have anything available for what you just mentioned. Please try someplace else."

Ranma steadily got up, and slowly turned around. "I'm sorry to hear that. But you know what, I don't care for jobs." She muttered and walked out the door.

... ... ...

The sun was about to set, and Ranma wandered aimlessly through place after place, and no one had anything for her. As she got tired of wandering through town, she stopped by the park bench and lay there.

"Job hunting can be pretty hard. How do they get jobs nowadays?" she asked no one in particular, and closed her eyes.

... ... ...

"Son-in-law?" a voice rang in her ears, but she would not wake. "Son-in-law?" The voice asked again.

"Son-in-law!" the voice shouted, and Ranma was rudely awakened by a bop to the head.

"Ow! Who the hell is the wise guy? Can't you see I'm sleeping here?" Ranma exclaimed, and saw that it was Cologne that woke her up. "Oh, it's only you." She said.

"Sorry for the rude awakening, but I had to wake you up, otherwise you'd catch a cold." Cologne said.

Ranma looked around, and saw that it was nighttime, then she turned back to Cologne. "What time is it?" she asked.

"Eight-thirty exactly." Cologne answered.

"What? You mean I slept for that long? Oh, man! That means I must've missed dinner!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Calm down, son!" Cologne said, and whacked the side of Ranma's head. "I'm here to help, and I can't help noticing that you slept here."

"How long have you been here?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, two hours, at least." Cologne said.

"You didn't wake me up, and you just sat there watching me sleep? Now you're even more demented that that old freak." Ranma said.

"Anyway, now that you're up. I'm guessing that you haven't been fed, right? Come with me." Cologne said, and led Ranma to the Nekohanten.

Cologne set two bowls of Ramen in front of Ranma. "Now eat up, and we'll talk later."

"But, why'd you give me two bowls?" Ranma asked.

"It's all on me." Cologne said simply, and hopped back into the kitchen.

Ranma was astonished, but she ate anyway.

... ... ...

After the meal, Cologne emerged from the kitchen once again, and sat directly opposite from Ranma. Ranma was once again in his male form, and she began conversing with him. "So, what were you up to today?" Cologne asked.

"I was looking for a job." Ranma said.

"Yes. Why were you looking for a job?" Cologne asked.

"Because I wanted to. Got a problem with that?" Ranma asked.

"No. But, were you successful in finding a job?" Cologne asked.

"No, but why are you asking me about all this?" Ranma questioned.

"Because I want to help you as much as I can. If you need a job, then I can help you out." Cologne said.

"Oh, and what will you do once I'm hired?" Ranma asked.

"The same thing as last time." Cologne answered.

"Ha, do you think I'm stupid? I'm not so dumb enough to get hired by the likes of you again! You just want me to spend more time with Shampoo, don't ya?" Ranma suspected.

"Yes, but that is beside the point." Cologne said.

"By the way, where is Shampoo?" Ranma asked.

"She is on a long delivery, and she won't be back for another hour. Anyway, the real reason why I sought you out today was to tell you of your new position in China."

"Wait a minute? You sought me out to tell me of a position? What is it?" Ranma asked.

"I have a letter from the council of elders in Joketsuzoku, and the chairmen of Jusenkyo for you." Cologne said and handed Ranma an envelope, addressed to him of course.

Ranma opened the envelope, and read its content.

Dear Ranma,

We, of the Council of Elders, and Jusenkyo Chairmen have chosen you to guard the waters of Jusenkyo. The position is free of charge, you will be paid in Yen, and the plane ticket will be free, and the ticket is inside the envelope you received with this letter. And, the final proposal is that you will be granted a chance to cure yourself of your Jusenkyo curse. You have exactly three weeks from the moment you obtain this letter to accept the position and come to Jusenkyo, alone!

Sincerely,

The Jusenkyo Chairmen, and the Council of Elders

... ... ...

A/N: Well, this is another story made by yours truly, and I hope you enjoyed it, and if you find my grammar to be incorrect in some places, please disregard them and let me handle it. Please rate, comment, and review this story. Thank you!


	3. Decisions

**A New Challenge **

-Chiba Hiro

*Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content, it all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.*

**Chapter 2: **Decisions

"Is this for real? And are you sure this is addressed to me and not somebody else?" Ranma asked Cologne, and convincing himself that this was too good to be true.

"Well, is there any other Ranma Saotome that people from China may be addressing? Of course it's for you!" Cologne exclaimed.

"Then, does this mean that I can be cured for good?" Ranma asked.

"I do not know. The letter said that you will only be able to cure yourself once you have proved to them that you are capable of being a Jusenkyo guardian." Cologne said.

"I don't know. If I were to accept this job offer, being a Jusenkyo guardian would be pretty boring. Nothing ever happens in Jusenkyo anyway." Ranma said.

"Well, this job is only for the fittest, and may I remind you that seventy-percent of all the visitors Jusenkyo receives each year happen to be martial artists. This job may not be so boring, wouldn't you say?" Cologne said.

"I guess, but it's probably all gonna be the run-of-the-mill martial artists, and you know how I hate going against people who are weak." Ranma sounded sure.

"Beware of what you say around Jusenkyo waters. Not everyone, or everything is as weak as you imagine it would be." Cologne warned in a superior tone.

"Are you trying to get rid of me? 'Cause it seems like everyone is in a hurry to see out the door." Ranma grumbled.

"Maybe we just want to see you succeed." Cologne suggested.

"Either that, or you just want me to be cured, come back as a whole man, and then marry Shampoo, don't you?" Ranma suspected.

"Son-in-law, you catch on very quickly." Cologne said sarcastically.

"I knew it! If anything good comes from you, I know right away that there's some ulterior motive behind your generous act! Ha! I'm smarter that you think, and if you think that you can fool me after all this time, you'll be surprised to know that I'm not falling for your games, you witch!" Ranma boasted.

"Oh, you think you know me that well, do you?" Cologne's tone deepened and she continued talking in a menacing tone. "A three-hundred year old Amazon like me that has experienced more than a hundred lives and it is more than you ever experienced in eighteen years alone, now you think you know me?"

Ranma backed up into a corner of the Nekohanten, and prepared for Cologne's wrath. "I'm sorry! Did I say that I knew everything about you? What I meant to say was that over the span of two years, I know from experience that this is what you usually do when you want me to do something, and I know that some of it has to benefit you in some way!" Ranma exclaimed in terror.

Cologne's voice returned to normal, and the mood around them lifted. "Well that is much better." Cologne sighed in relief.

Cologne glanced at the clock to see what time it was.

"Oh, dear me, time seems to have slipped us by, I'm afraid it's time to wrap up!" Cologne exclaimed, and hopped toward the kitchen, but stopped before she went in. "By the way, you will be expecting a visit by me, and I will submit your answer within a week, so be prepared." Cologne said, and disappeared into the kitchen.

Ranma glanced at the clock. "What the hell! It's already ten? Damn, I'm gonna get pounded for this if I'm out too late!" Ranma exclaimed, and dashed towards the door, but bumped into Shampoo as she walked in.

"Ow!" Shampoo shouted out, and fell to the floor. Shampoo looked up at Ranma, and straightened up.

"Uh, why is Ranma here?" Shampoo asked.

Ranma froze, and tried to look away from her piercing glance. "Um, I was...uh, getting a bite to eat, that's all! Uh, I gotta go now!" Ranma exclaimed, and dusted Shampoo off.

"Well, you don't seem to have any serious injuries, okay, I'm leaving now!" Ranma shouted, and was instantly three blocks down the road.

... ... ...

The next morning, Ranma got dressed faster, and was almost at the door, when Akane, Soun, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Genma blocked his path.

"Hey, would you let me go! We're gonna be late to school!" Ranma shouted.

"Son, we need to know now. Why did you come home late last night, and explain why you didn't show up for dinner." Genma demanded.

"Uh, whatever could you be talking about? I was out late last night looking for jobs just like you said, Pops! Now let me go through!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Not so fast. If you really were out looking for jobs so late at night, then where did you go to eat?" Genma asked.

"Uh, I stopped by the Nekohanten and grabbed a quick bite to eat, that's all." Ranma said, and tried to act like he was annoyed by the lectures.

"Then tell me this. If you 'really' got a quick bite to eat at the Nekohanten, then why did you arrive late last night?" Akane inquired, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Um, I...I got myself a job!" Ranma blurted out.

They were shocked to hear this news. "And, did you get a job at the Nekohanten?" Soun shouted rather than asked.

"No." Ranma said.

"Then where?" Genma asked.

"Look, I don't have time to stand here and tell you everything! I'll tell you when I get back from school, okay!" Ranma fumed, and pushed past his dad and stormed out the door with Akane following behind.

... ... ...

"Say it already, Ranma. You had an affair with Shampoo, didn't you." Akane broke the silence as they were both (Ranma was walking on top of the fence as usual) walking to school.

"Okay I'll say it. I didn't have an affair with Shampoo. Are you happy now?" Ranma said with an annoyed tone, and continued walking down the fence.

"Hey! You have to give me an appropriate explanation!" Akane shouted after.

"Why should I lie? I told you already, I didn't go to the Nekohanten, eat, and make out with Shampoo. I merely dropped by after I was tired from all the job searching, and I ate there, and had a conversation with the Old Ghoul, and bumped into Shampoo on my way out, that's all. Now would you please get off my case!" Ranma explained with a bored tone.

"Hey! Don't you use that tone of voice on me! I know you all too well!" Akane ignored his reasonable explanation, and argued back.

"Oh yeah, what do you know?" Ranma tested.

"Um, you're a self-centered, cocky, dimwitted, stupid, insane, lustful, perverted, cross dressing, moron, blunt, and full of yourself!" Akane recited.

"Well, didn't you just name my bad qualities." Ranma said sarcastically. "I'm glad that you know me so well...stupid, blockheaded tomboy." Ranma muttered almost to himself, and ignored Akane's remarks the entire time they walked to school, during lunch, and after school while walking.

... ... ...

Ranma entered the house, and was unexpectedly greeted by Cologne.

"Ahh! Old Ghoul, what are you doing here so soon?" Ranma asked.

"I'm glad that you always give me a heartfelt welcome when I arrive." Cologne commented sarcastically, and gestured for Ranma to talk with her privately.

Just as they were starting the conversation, Akane walked through the doors, and walked in on their huddled conversation.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" Akane asked awkwardly.

"Yeah, now buzz off!" Ranma ordered, and Akane walked right past him, and went toward the stairs, but stopped short from them to listen to their conversation.

"Now, what are you doing here?" Ranma asked.

"I'm sorry that I came here so soon, but it's just that I had a good reason." Cologne remarked.

"Stop joking around!" Ranma fumed, and they lowered their voices down so that no one within earshot could hear them.

"What?" Ranma exclaimed. "You mean that they want my answer now!" Ranma shouted.

"Settle down, Ranma. I said that I would come in a few days after I took you to our restaurant, but it seems that there has been a change in the schedule. The Jusenkyo chairmen, and Elders want your answer right now." Cologne said.

"What? You mean I have to reply right away? I thought you said that I had almost a week or two?" Ranma said.

"Yes, but your assistance is required as of this moment. It seems to me that one day is enough to think over your reply. So what will it be?" Cologne asked.

Ranma paused to think for a moment, but Akane interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes, Ranma. What is your reply? And what is it that you're replying to?" Akane inquired, and her aura shot out like flames as she glared at Ranma.

"Precisely." Soun said as he, Genma, and Kasumi entered the conversation.

"Jeez, can't a guy have personal conversation without people having to snoop around?" Ranma commented.

"We could leave you alone, but you're talking much too loud to be having a personal conversation." Akane said.

"Tell us what it is that you are replying to! And don't make us wait too long!" Soun demanded.

Ranma paused to think for a bit.

More than ten minutes passed, and Ranma was looking down at his feet as he was trying to come up with an answer.

Everyone grew impatient, and Genma, Akane, and Soun's auras flared up as their patience deteriorated.

"Ranma, do you really need to take the whole hour just to think of an answer!" Genma broke the immense silence, and Ranma looked up at them.

As he met their gazes, his eyes shone that his decision had been made, and there was no turning back.

Ranma turned to Cologne, and bowed his head low.

"I'll do whatever it takes." he replied.

... ... ...

A/N: Well, that's my second chapter for this story guys! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please rate, comment, and review this story. Again, if you find anything grammatically incorrect in this story, please disregard them and let me handle it! I can't stress it enough to you guys, so just leave it to me! Furthermore, my school's on break now, so I'll be free to post more chapters over the next two weeks! So just look forward to it. Thanks!


	4. Going back to China?

**A New Challenge**

-By: Chiba Hiro

*Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its contents, it all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz media.*

... ... ...

**Chapter 3: **Going back to China

"I'll take the job offer, Old Ghoul. Just tell me what to do next." Ranma stated.

"Oh, goody! Now we'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning!" Cologne exclaimed.

"But why does it have to be so soon? Can't he just spend at least one more week here before he goes back to China?" Akane asked.

"Heavens, no. When Ranma decided to take the job offer, he is needed immediately in Jusenkyo." Cologne said.

"But…" Akane protested, but Soun interrupted.

"Darling, Ranma has to do this. It's for your future together. He'll be back again some day." Soun stated.

"Um, unfortunately, Mr. Tendo, he cannot return here." Cologne stated.

"Well, why in the world not?" Soun exclaimed.

"Once he becomes a Jusenkyo guardian, his position is for him to stay there for as long as he is able, in other words, he cannot leave the waters for any reason." Cologne explained.

"You mean he has to stay there for the rest of his life?" Genma asked.

"No, he is to stay there until he is beaten in battle. The laws of Jusenkyo clearly state that once he accepts the position, he must stay there until a worthy opponent surpasses him. You know that once a person ages, he becomes weaker, and as a result, the person who defeats him will become the next guardian, and the cycle never ends, you see." Cologne explained.

"Then how will Ranma get to marry Akane if he is not here to wed her?" Soun asked dramatically.

"The only way for a wedding to occur is to have the girl fly to Jusenkyo with him." Cologne answered.

"Then it is settled, Akane will go with Ranma first thing tomorrow morning!" Soun declared.

"But Dad, I still have to finish school!" Akane protested. "And I don't wanna go with Ranma to Jusenkyo for the rest of his life! I have my own life, you know!"

"Then we'll have you transferred to a school in China! Is that fair enough?" Soun proposed.

"That's easy for you to say! I don't speak Chinese, you know!" Akane argued.

"That's how you'll learn though." Soun put in.

"Yeah, after all, you're a pretty fast learner, Akane." Kasumi added.

"I don't wanna go to China like this." Akane complained.

"Well, whether you want to go or not, Ranma's decision to go is final, and if time serves us right, you won't get to see Ranma here for another fifty years!" Cologne jokingly explained.

"Fifty years?" they all said in unison.

"Who knows if we'll even remember Ranma by then, after all, I'd want to marry someone who's not an old geezer!" Akane exclaimed.

"Anyway, Ranma, please meet me at the airport tomorrow at no later than nine o'clock. Do you understand?" Cologne said, and hopped out the front door before anyone could ask any questions.

"But why, son?" Soun cried, and dropped to his knees in front of Ranma, and Genma followed suit.

"Why did you accept the job?" Soun cried out.

"Why are you going to leave us?" Genma cried.

"Hey, stop slobbering all over my feet! It's gross!" Ranma shouted.

"Ranma, what if you don't come back in fifty years? Who knows what might become of our dads." Akane lectured.

Just as they started their argument, Genma and Soun left them to bicker.

"Akane, you take things way too seriously." Ranma said with no humor in his tone.

"What do you mean?" Akane demanded.

"The old hag forgot to tell you that once I did my fair share of work in Jusenkyo, the chiefs will agree to cure me of my curse forever, and once that's over, I'll run loose and say good bye to that place for good! I won't be stuck there for fifty years! Don't worry." Ranma boasted.

"Yeah, but what if that takes fifty years to cure you?" Akane asked.

"They ain't hold me without a cure forever. I'll do whatever it takes to get cured, even if it takes ten, twenty, or even thirty years for them to agree to cure me. By then, they'd be old guys, and they'll be dying of old age!" Ranma reassured her.

"Well, excuse me for thinking of the possibilities!" Akane shouted angrily.

"Cool it, Akane. I said I'll help them keep potential dangers from emerging from Jusenkyo, and I would. Even if it takes half a century, maybe I'll have meant something to you!" Ranma shouted.

"Well, how about I make proposal for you?" Ranma suggested.

"Yeah, what is it?" Akane blushed.

"If…or when I come back as a whole man again some day, will you promise to wait for me by then? I'll come back as soon as I'm cured, even if I have to beat the cure out of them, and then we'll agree to live together again. Right? Whadda ya' say about that?" Ranma proposed.

It took several moments for Akane to respond, but Ranma waited.

Akane looked up at Ranma once again, and responded.

"I will." Akane said, and walked past him to go to her room.

… … …

Next morning, at the airport, Genma saw to it that Ranma made it there on time.

"Well, son, if you ever find a cure for yourself, make sure to bring it in a bottle, and share it with me, okay? And remember to always eat well, get plenty of exercise, do regular training regimens, and follow everything that your bosses tell you, okay?" Genma lectured.

"I know, dad. Stop telling me what to do already! I'm eighteen now, I'm not a kid anymore." Ranma stated.

Genma's eyes filled with tears as he heard Ranma declare that he was not a child any longer.

"You're right. I shouldn't be telling you this, but… this reminds me of the time I took you with me on our first training trip, it was by far the hardest part of our journey, and I'll never forget when your mother sent me that letter!" Genma exclaimed through choked tears.

"Now, I know exactly how she felt when you have to part from your only source of comfort!" Genma stated.

"Dad, stop it already! You're embarrassing me!" Ranma shouted.

"I know. But it's because I truly care for you, and not that it's important, but I want you to know something." Genma said darkly. "Don't let anyone beat you, for any reason. You were meant for this job, and I want you to come out on top of it."

"Dad, I'm gonna be a guardian, not a champion wrestler." Ranma reminded him.

"Yeah, I know. But, be careful." Genma warned.

"I know, dad." Ranma said.

"And one last thing." Genma continued. "Keep in touch with us. We want to know how you're doing, and we won't be able to do that if you keep us in the dark."

"Dad, I know already! Now, are you gonna leave, or not? The Old Ghoul's gonna be here any minute now, and I wanna meet her here alone!" Ranma snapped.

"Yes, but one more thing. Why is she going with you to China?" Genma whispered into Ranma's ear.

"How the heck should I know? She's the one who decided to accompany me to China, and as far as I'm concerned, she's the Chinese expert here, not me." Ranma said, and folded his arms across his chest as Genma left him to wait for Colonge alone.

Twenty minutes passed, and there was no sign of Cologne yet.

"Damn it, what could be taking her so long? She said I have to be here by nine o'clock, and now it's almost nine-thirty!" Ranma shouted.

Another twenty minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Cologne yet.

"Damn it, if she doesn't make it here with the tickets fast enough, I'm going home! If she doesn't make it here in another ten minutes, I might just kill someone!" Ranma said to himself.

… … …

"Excuse me, but have you been waiting long?" a young feminine voice asked from behind Ranma.

Ranma turned to face the speaker, and saw that it was a tall, Chinese girl with long, lavender hair, and emerald green eyes, but something about her made her extremely familiar to Ranma, he thought.

"Um, do I know you by any chance, miss?" Ranma asked.

The lavender haired Chinese girl snapped, and whacked him on the head with a familiar walking stick that normally belongs to Cologne. "It's me, you fool!"

"Ouch! Hey, what did you do that for, lady?" Ranma asked, and patted his throbbing head.

"You don't even recognize your own escort! I am Cologne!" she shouted.

"What?" Ranma asked confused, and his face turned a sickly white as he made the connection between Cologne and this new girl.

"But how did you…" Ranma started, but this younger Cologne finished for him.

"I simply used a charm that makes me look, and act younger again." Cologne explained.

"Wow! You look…uh, very…attractive." Ranma hesitated, but managed to compliment her.

"Oh, you like it? I'm very thrilled!" Cologne exclaimed.

"But, what's with the younger look? I mean, what's wrong with what you looked like before?" Ranma asked.

"Because people would treat me better if I looked like a youngster again, and besides, I can move faster now!" Cologne exclaimed, and leaped into the air.

In midair, Cologne did a series of flips, twists, and rolls, and then she landed gracefully on the ground all in one minute.

"Wow! That was cool, Old Ghoul!" Ranma complimented.

"That's Cologne for you. And I better not hear the words 'Old Ghoul' or 'old hag' come out of your lips while I take on this form, if that understood?" Cologne threatened lightly, and led him inside the airport.

… … …

A/N: Well, this is another chapter brought to you by me! I hope you all enjoyed reading this story so far! Please rate, comment, and review this chapter, and tell me what you all think! Thanks!


	5. Back in China

**A New Challenge **

-Chiba Hiro

*Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content, it all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.*

... ... ...

**Chapter 5: **Back in China

"Well, son-in-law, we're almost in China." The younger Cologne said from the seat next to him on the plane.

"What are we gonna do once we get there, Old Ghoul?" Ranma asked.

"I told you not to call me that! My name is Cologne!" Cologne snapped. "Anyway, once we get there, I will present you to the Jusenkyo chairmen, and they will judge you."

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

"They will try to judge you for the position they proposed to you by putting you through a series of challenges. I, of course, will be your guide." Cologne explained.

"Well, isn't that considered cheating?" Ranma questioned.

"It isn't called cheating unless you're the only one who will be doing it. I will be participating too!" Cologne exclaimed.

"Aren't you a little too old to be a Jusenkyo guardian?" Ranma asked.

"Silly child, I bothered to take on this form for the sole purpose of helping you. If I had been otherwise, I would be weak, and who knows what might happen." Cologne said.

"But, why'd you choose that form? You look no older that I am." Ranma said.

"I used the reverse age charm, it allows me to revert back to an age where I was considered at my strongest point. My strongest points happened when I turned eighteen." Cologne explained.

"Anyway, we're about to land, so prepare yourself to face the challenges." Cologne said.

"No matter what these challenges are, I'll never give up without a fight!" Ranma declared.

"Yeah, sure you are." Cologne said sarcastically.

... ... ...

Outside the Chinese Airport, they stood there, waiting for their rides to Jusenkyo. "Um, who are we waiting for? Can't we take one of those buses?" Ranma asked, gesturing to a bus that was taking the arrivals.

"No, because those buses don't go anywhere near the Qinghai province, I'm waiting for a different sort of ride." Cologne said.

"Man, we've been waiting for over an hour here, and there is still no sign of this ride of yours! Damn it!" Ranma cursed.

"Be patient, Ranma. The Qinghai province is exactly ten miles from here, and you can't expect a ride to come here just like that. It takes time." Cologne said.

"How long does it take to get there anyway?" Ranma asked.

"Three hours at the least." Cologne answered.

"Then we have to wait here for three hours?" Ranma shouted rather than asked.

"Be still, son-in-law, our ride has come." Cologne said.

"Where is it?" Ranma asked, looking around for Cologne's mysterious ride.

Cologne pointed to a yellow taxi cab that pulled to a stop in front of them.

The window of the passenger side opened, and the driver was apparently familiar to Ranma.

"What? You're the guide from before!" Ranma shouted in recognition.

The driver looked at him in puzzlement. "Um, sorry, do I know you from somewhere?" the driver asked.

"What? You mean you don't remember me! I'm the guy with a panda for a father!" Ranma shouted.

The driver wiped his forehead with his handkerchief, and a light spawned in his eyes. "Ah, now I remember! You dat kid with panda from two year ago!" the driver shouted in his heavy Chinese accent.

"Exactly!" Ranma shouted.

"Now, now, mind your manners. People are staring." Cologne cheered.

The driver looked strangely at the younger looking Cologne. "Um, who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Cologne!" she shouted.

"Cologne?" the driver exclaimed, and his jaw dropped at the sight of her new form. "It cannot be!"

"Anyway, I called you here to take us to Jusenkyo." Cologne said.

"Oh, yes! Right away, ma'am!" The driver saluted her, and they got in the car. "For you, da ride is free of charge, so you thank me later!" he exclaimed, and they drove off to their destination.

... ... ...

"So, Mr. Jusenkyo Guide, why are you a taxi driver now?" Ranma asked him.

"Well, ever since I took that job of being a Jusenkyo tour guide, my life instantly became meaningless." The taxi driver said.

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.

"I quit that job last week! Now I have job as taxi driver!" he exclaimed.

"Wow, that's cool." Ranma complimented, and sat back in his seat.

"So, did anything interesting happen at Jusenkyo in the two years I've been gone?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, plenty things happen! There have been more Jusenkyo visitors even before you come!" the driver explained.

"Wow, how many have there been before?" Ranma inquired further.

"Oh, first it was least six to seven visits a month, and now it go up to five persons a day!" the former Jusenkyo guide explained.

"Whew, that's a lot of people? So, have there been any Jusenkyo guardians before?" Ranma asked.

"Jusenkyo guardians? Well...I don't remember." he said. "Sir, I hear you become Jusenkyo guardian, dat is very good honor." The driver said.

"What does a guardian do?" Ranma asked.

"A guardian? Well, a guardian protects Jusenkyo from unwanted visitors. Like da martial artist! Oh, dat is worse visitor ever!"

"Aside from that, why do I have to be a guardian?" Ranma asked.

"You are very strong, my friend, that's why. In order to protect secret of Jusenkyo hidden, a guardian must prevent future victims."

"Victims? But isn't the Jusenkyo secret already out? I mean, if you say that there used to be six to seven victims a month, and now it's five people per day, don't you think that Jusenkyo is no longer a secret?" Ranma asked rhetorically.

"I...I don't know. Maybe it no longer secret, maybe it is myth, legend, or maybe it is famous! Oh no! Now your hands will surely be full!" the driver exclaimed, and then mumbled some other things, but Ranma could not quite understand them.

Just then, Cologne rolled off, and her head landed on his shoulder, then onto his lap, and Ranma realized that Cologne had fallen asleep.

"Uh, Cologne, would you get off me." He whispered to her, and tried shaking her awake, but she continued to sleep.

"Damn, she's dead asleep." He said to himself.

"Well, now is a good time to leave you two alone." The driver commented, and rolled up the visor that separated the passenger seats.

"But wait, you got the wrong idea!" Ranma shouted at him, but the visor was raised completely, and he decided to give up and let Cologne sleep on his lap.

Ranma peered at Cologne's peaceful expression, and looked down at her lips. They were a smooth pink color, and he realized that Cologne looked beautiful as a teenager.

*Damn, if she were really eighteen right now, I'd probably be the luckiest guy out there! But, this is Cologne we're talking about here! She's...ancient, but now she looks almost...cute, if that's even the right word to describe her now.* he thought.

... ... ...

An hour later, the cab drew to a stop, and that awakened Cologne. "Huh, is the ride over yet?" she asked sleepily, and got up to stretch.

"Yup, I think we're here." Ranma said, looking out the window, and he looked back at her with a cool expression.

Cologne blushed, and suddenly remembered where she had slept on. "Oh no! Did I fall asleep?" she exclaimed.

"Yup. And guess where." Ranma said.

Cologne's face turned a bright pink, and she instantly turned away from Ranma to look at the scenery.

"The scenery looks great outside, huh, Ranma?" she said.

"Yup." He agreed.

Then, the visor that separated them from the driver opened, and the driver looked back at them. "Have a sweet dream, ma'am? We are here, and I'm afraid this is as far I go! Good luck to you two!" he exclaimed, and Cologne got out of the cab awkwardly, and Ranma followed her as they watched the taxi drive back the way it came.

They stood at the edge of the cliff, and there, in the distance below, the mystic springs of Jusenkyo sprang to life. "Wow, I forgot what it feels like to see Jusenkyo from up here." Ranma commented. "Aside from the cursed springs, I'd say this is a pretty nice view of the place! Don't you think?"

Cologne looked from the valley, and turned to look at the martial artist's face. She realized that they were of equal height, and her eyes left a dreamy stare to them.

"Um, Cologne, are you still there?" Ranma asked, and waved his hand in front of her face, and Cologne blinked back to reality.

"Um, yeah. Let's go meet the chairmen now." She said hurriedly, and led Ranma down the valley.

... ... ...

Inside the chairmen's tent, Ranma and Cologne situated themselves in front of the three chairmen, and Joketsuzoku elder.

"So, this is Ranma now, eh?" the first chairmen spoke when he finished analyzing the pigtailed martial artist.

"Yes, he is." Cologne answered.

"I would like for Mr. Saotome to answer a few questions for us, and we'd like it if you were to leave us alone for a few minutes, Cologne?" the chairmen said (in mandarin) to Cologne.

"Yes." She responded back, and got up to leave with Ranma attempting to follow her, but she gestured for him to stay put, and he obeyed.

"Ahem, Ranma." the first chairmen said (in Japanese). "We'd like for you to answer our questions if you don't mind."

"Sure, I'll answer them." Ranma replied back.

"Ranma, why do you think we called for you to become a Jusenkyo guardian?" the first chairmen asked.

"So, I could protect Jusenkyo, I guess." Ranma answered as best he could.

"You are almost correct. In fact, we called you to become a Jusenkyo guardian in order to decrease the number of Jusenkyo curses." The first chairmen corrected him.

"Next question." The second chairmen continued. "Are you aware of our reward to you if we feel we are satisfied with your work?"

"Um, I get to have a cure for my curse?" Ranma responded with a half answer.

"That is correct." The second chairmen said. "Third chairmen, you are next."

"Ahem, Ranma, are you ready to take on this responsibility as a guardian?" he asked.

"Yes." Ranma replied with little to no hesitation.

"Good. Now, this is only the first step of granting you the position." The Joketsuzoku elder spoke. "You must now answer to me. Will you partake in three challenges to see if you are worthy of your position?"

Ranma thought for a few seconds, and then answered. "Yes."

... ... ...

A/N: Well, this is another chapter for you. Please rate, comment, and review this chapter! And be sure to check in every other day to see more chapters for this story. I promise that there'll be more for you to enjoy, and in the meantime, please let me know what you all think about this story so far, as long as it has nothing to do with my grammar, and make sure it's an appropriate one. Thanks again!


	6. The First Task

**A New Challenge **

-Chiba Hiro

*Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content, it all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.*

... ... ...

**Chapter 5: **The First Task

"Ranma, now that you have answered to all our questions, you must complete this next step of ours." The Joketsuzoku elder explained.

"So, what do I have to do, old man?" Ranma asked.

"I am not old! I am an elder chief!" the elder exclaimed.

Being an elder is the same as being old though, Ranma thought. "Anyway, just tell me what I need to do in order to work for you." Ranma said, shrugging the elder's exclamation aside.

"Alright, Ranma, we want you to go through three tasks for us to prove your worth. Your first task was to answer all our questions, and you did, now you must go through the official first task." He said.

"What's in it for me?" Ranma asked.

"You must find special items within Jusenkyo. You have a time limit, a map, and a list of items to search for." The elder explained further.

"Why do I need to find things?" Ranma asked.

"It gives you an insight of the valley, and you'll get to know the valley through and through after all. If you're going to be a guardian, a guardian should know the layout of the land he is guarding, right?" the elder said.

"I guess you're right." Ranma agreed. "So, when does my task start?" Ranma asked.

"It starts as soon as we hand you the list, the map, and your time limit. If you are unable to complete the task once the time limit is over, you will be deemed unworthy of the position. Now, I will give you the list of things you must find." The elder said, and handed Ranma a rolled up piece of parchment.

"Great, so where's the map?" Ranma asked.

The first chairman handed him a map of Jusenkyo, and Ranma took it without further questioning.

"You'll be doing this by yourself, so don't ask anyone for help. This map is all you will need." The first chairman explained.

"So, what's my limit?" Ranma asked.

"The Jusenkyo grounds are your limited boundaries, and you must find everything on these grounds. We will not accept anything that's not from within these grounds." The second chairman explained this time.

"But, how will you know?" Ranma asked.

"We have sensors located on each of the exits, and entrances, and we will know immediately that you have left and reentered the grounds. So, that explains everything." The second chairman answered.

"And, what's my time limit?" Ranma asked.

"You have the maximum of five days to find those things, and bring them all here in one piece. Are we clear on this?" the third chairman said.

"Yeah, I get it. Well, wish me luck!" Ranma exclaimed, and dashed out of the council's tent.

... ... ...

Ranma dashed out of the tent so fast that Cologne, who was leaning on a post was startled by the speeding Ranma. Once she realized this, Cologne sped up to join him.

Once they were at equal speeds, Cologne started questioning him. "So, how'd it go, Ranma?" she asked.

"Oh, I've been asked a bunch of questions, and now I've been sent on a time limited scavenger hunt." Ranma explained all in one sentence.

"You will need help?" Cologne asked.

"No, I got this on my own, thank you. Besides, I'll get busted if I let anyone help me with finding these things." Ranma said.

"Oh, I see. But, may I see what you must find?" Cologne asked.

Ranma unrolled the parchment, and saw that the list was written in Chinese. "Damn, this thing's written in Chinese! I can't read what's on this!" Ranma swore.

"Oh, may I at least read it for you?" Cologne volunteered.

"Why not? You're the Chinese expert, right?" Ranma said, and handed Cologne the parchment, and they stopped running and paused to wait for Cologne to read the first item.

"The first item to be found is a bird of paradise shrub's leaf." Cologne translated.

"Oh, but how the heck am I supposed to know what a bird of paradise shrub's leaf looks like? And where I find one?" Ranma asked ironically.

"Oh, they seem to have put a picture of what the leaf should look like, and what type of environment it would be found best in!" Cologne exclaimed.

"What? Where?" Ranma asked, and Cologne pointed out the crudely drawn bird of paradise leaf to the left of the Chinese text.

"Oh, I must've missed that." Ranma shrugged, and patted his head innocently.

"Where would I find one?" Ranma asked.

"It says that you can easily find one in an Amazon forest setting better." Cologne translated.

"Amazon? But we're nowhere near an Amazon-like forest!" Ranma exclaimed, and clutched his head in a failed attempt to act frustrated.

"Relax. Check the map to see if there is one." Cologne suggested, and Ranma checked the map. Oddly enough, there was an Amazon that bordered Jusenkyo and the Joketsuzoku village.

"Amazing! They planned out everything!" Ranma exclaimed. "Come on! Let's go get this bird of paradise leaf!"

... ... ...

Three hours passed, and they have been wandering around aimlessly trying to look for the bird of paradise's leaf.

"Um, are you sure you're reading that map correct? It feels like we've been walking around aimlessly." Cologne said, and stopped for a moment to rest.

Ranma was studying the map deeply, and had a strained look on his face as he buried his face closer to the map, and then fell on his back to lie down on the ground.

"Ah! Damn it! I can't make heads or tails of this darn map! It looks like a piece of cake to read landmarks, but without a key, there's no way I'd know where I'm going! And all these roads look so similar it's making me lose track of where we first started! I can't believe I agreed to this, and it's already been more than three hours and we haven't even found this Amazon forest!" Ranma shouted out in frustrated, and spread eagle on the ground to relieve himself of the stress.

"Why don't you let me look at the map?" Cologne suggested.

"Good luck!" Ranma shouted, and handed her the map in utter defeat.

Cologne checked the map, and turned the map around, and what do you know, the map's key was also in Chinese. I guess the dimwit must've mistaken the key for something else, Cologne thought. Then, she shook Ranma's shoulders, and pulled him to his feet.

"Guess what, this map does have a key!" Cologne exclaimed. "It's just in Chinese also!"

"What is this, assume that Ranma Saotome knows Chinese day?" Ranma exclaimed sarcastically. "Honestly!"

"Follow me!" Cologne said, and he followed her down the path that she had taken.

... ... ...

An hour later, they reached the edge of a forest, and Cologne looked up from the map. "Well, we're here." She said, and Ranma stopped to pant.

"Damn, it's almost sundown, and the leaves are gonna look same in the dark!" Ranma exclaimed as they watched the sun going closer to the horizon.

"That's okay. We can always camp out here, and look for the leaf first thing tomorrow." Cologne suggested.

"Are you kidding me? We don't have a tomorrow, if we keep wandering like this, at this rate, it's gonna take months to finally find all the things on that stupid list! We didn't even find one item today!" Ranma complained.

"I thought you were made of more than such lame excuses. This just means that you have to use your intelligence more." Cologne lectured, and Ranma stretched out his arms.

"At any rate, I'd better go search for this stupid leaf before we turn it. Cologne, can I trust you to make dinner for us. If I wanna get that job, and keep my promise to Akane, I have to get that leaf and complete this task! So will you do it?" Ranma asked.

"Sure." Cologne said, and Ranma disappeared into the forest with that unbelievable speed of his.

... ... ...

It took over an hour to set up camp by herself, but she was just getting ready for dinner when a figure rustled through the forest, and Cologne turned to see who it was, and assumed it was Ranma.

"Are you done searching, Ranma?" Cologne asked, and took a better look at the figure that emerged from behind a bush.

A second later, the person moved into the light, and it was revealed to be the infamous yellow and black striped bandana clad boy named Ryoga Hibiki. "Oh, sorry. Did I startle you by coming here, miss? I think you might've mistaken me for somebody else, miss." He said, and put a hand behind his head in an awkward, but innocent-looking gesture.

"Ryoga, what are you doing here?" Cologne asked.

"Uh, excuse me, but how do you know my name, miss? I don't think we've met before, have we?" Ryoga asked.

I guess it's futile to say that I'm the shriveled up, old hag that helped him with the breaking point technique, huh? I guess I'll tell him who I am later, she thought

"Oh, sorry, but my name is Ku Lon." Cologne introduced herself using her Chinese name instead of the name that everyone is used to calling her by this point.

"Uh, Ryoga Hibiki is my name. But, I think you figured out my name by just seeing me?" Ryoga said.

"Uh, I think it's just coincidence since I have a brother with the same name, and similar looking face like yours, so it's a common mistake." Cologne lied.

"Oh, really?" Ryoga bought it.

"So, why are you here?" Cologne asked.

"I would ask you the same thing, but I think I was lured here by the scent of food cooking." Ryoga said.

Just then, the thought of her food cooking returned to her, and she looked to see that the food was nearly ready.

"Oh dear, it is ready! Well, since you're here then, why don't you come and eat with me, I think I might've made a lot more than I thought tonight." Cologne said, and she led him to the inside of the camp circle.

Ryoga instantly noticed that there were two tents pitched up, and then he turned back to 'Ku Lon' to see that she was preparing his bowl, and he accepted it with ease.

"Thank you." He said.

"No need to thank me, but I think that one look at you, you must be starving by the way you look, Ryoga. I take it that you're traveling alone?" Cologne asked.

"Uh, now that you mentioned it. I do travel around a lot, Ku Lon, but I seemed to have come here with a friend." Ryoga said, and started playing with his food with the fork.

"Really, who is your friend?" Cologne asked.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call him a friend, but let's just say we came here because we heard a certain rival of ours has come here, and we figured that we would follow him here. I was half expecting to find that person here, but when I saw your camp from a while back there, I thought I might have mistaken it to be 'his' camp, and I apparently charged ahead without thinking." Ryoga explained.

"Oh, I see. Did you travel very far?" Cologne asked.

"Yes, actually, I come from Japan, and my rival also comes from Japan, and when we heard he's coming here, we rushed over here." Ryoga said.

"Where is your friend by the way?" Cologne asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about him-" Ryoga said, but someone interrupted him.

"Oh really? How could you leave me behind, you buffoon? I had the map and everything!" the voice shouted, and he emerged from behind them, and they were surprised that it was the long haired, glasses wearing geek known as Mousse.

"How could you forget about me since I was the one who brought you here?" Mousse shouted, and that made Cologne wince at the fierce note behind Mousse's voice.

"I thought we were accomplices, but no! You had to run off, and just when we were so close, I...huh? And, Ryoga, why are you eating dinner with a random girl, huh?" Mousse asked, noticing for the first time that Cologne was there too.

"She's not random! It just happens to be a girl who gladly offered me dinner! You gotta problem with that, Mousse?" Ryoga challenged.

"Well, it's bad enough that you're eating with a strange girl out here..." Mousse paused before continuing. "...without me, of course!" Mousse finished on an unpredictable note.

"I'm sorry to eat and run, miss, but can I eat here too?" Mousse asked unexpectedly.

Cologne had an exaggerated sweat drop moment, and just shrugged it off. "Uh, of course, Mousse. That's your name, right?"

"Yes, my name is Mousse! I'm sorry for not introducing myself properly! Please forgive me!" Mousse shouted, and bowed.

Cologne gave a slight chuckle, but she introduced herself anyway. "My name is Ku Lon. It's nice to meet an accomplice of Ryoga's. Please come sit with us and eat. There's plenty for everybody." She said finally.

Ryoga and Mousse blushed at the comment, and Mousse agreed to sit with them, but he sat next to Cologne, and was about to make a move on her, but stopped. No, I mustn't! It would be immoral if I were to flirt with some random girl I hardly even know! And what would she think of it anyway? Mousse thought, and shrugged it off. I cannot allow myself to fall in love with two beautiful women! But, something about this girl in particular has me thinking if they're related or not. They do have similar hair colors, they look to be around the same height, and I'm thinking she's one of the locals, so maybe she's a relative of Shampoo's! But I can't just go off with a relative of Shampoo's! What would she think? Mousse thought.

"Um, Mousse, your dinner is ready." Cologne said, and snapped Mousse out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I'm sorry, please excuse me! I was thinking of something else right now!" Mousse exclaimed and took the bowl from Cologne's hand. "Thanks for the food!" he exclaimed, and they all started eating.

... ... ...

A while later, the rustling in the trees came similarly, and Ranma emerged from them. He was dirty all over, and his face was smeared with so much dust and dirt that he was hardly even recognizable had he not have a pigtail to go with it. In his hand was the bird of paradise leaf.

"I'm back! Sorry it took so long!" he exclaimed, and noticed that Cologne was eating with Mousse and Ryoga.

When they finally noticed him, their eyes widened, and they dropped their eating utensils, and got into fighting stances.

"Why are you here?" Ranma demanded.

"We'd like to know the same thing, Ranma!" Mousse and Ryoga shouted in unison.

"Why'd you follow me all the way here? Come here to fight me, have you? Very well, I'm ready!" Ranma challenged them, and got into a fighting stance himself, and he still held onto the bird of paradise leaf.

"Boys, would you please not fight here when there's still food here." Cologne stopped them, and they immediately stopped.

"Sorry." They said in unison, and sat down.

... ... ...

"So, that's why you're here." Ryoga and Mousse said in unison after Cologne told them of how she and Ranma met (it's obviously a lie), and they immediately believed her, and she told them how she was told to find him for the guardian's position in Jusenkyo, and they immediately became shocked.

"So, your mission is to find someone strong enough to protect more people from obtaining Jusenkyo curses?" Ryoga said.

"Yup." Ranma said.

"But that doesn't explain why you're out here in the first place." Mousse said.

"Yeah, I think I'll let you know soon enough, but tell me why you guys are here. I'm guessing that you chased me all the way here so you can be done with me forever, huh?" Ranma guessed.

Ryoga and Mousse exchanged glances, and they turned back to Ranma and then nodded.

"I knew it." Ranma said with an all knowing sigh that said that he knew them all too well. "I guess I've been around you long enough to tell everything about you. You always leave this predictable sign behind you that says 'I will chase Ranma Saotome down to the ends of the earth, and finish him off once and for all, and then I'll claim the woman who rightfully belongs to me and me alone.'" Ranma said in a superior tone, but Ryoga and Mousse had to agree with him, even though they didn't appear to like it.

"Anyway, I wanna know how you got here, and when and where you heard I'd be coming here." Ranma said.

"Well, to be honest, Shampoo told me that you'd be coming here with her Great-grandma, and I assumed that she'd be here." Mousse admitted.

"Well, that's her over here." Ranma said, gesturing to the teen version of Cologne.

Idiot Son-in-law, Cologne thought. Mousse was going through his mind, and tried to put two and two together, and then realized something.

"Ah! I was even thinking about flirting with her! I can't believe my own mistake!" Mousse shouted in dramatic irony, and proceeded to bang his head on the tree behind him as self-punishment.

"So, you're the same Old Ghoul from before?" Ryoga asked.

"Yes." Cologne said and pushed the 'Old Ghoul' nickname aside, and decided to let them refer to her as 'Old Ghoul' for when she returned to her real form.

"So, how did you get like this?" Ryoga asked.

"I used a charm to revert back to an age where I experienced my strongest form of power. In this case, as I've said over a thousand times, I was at my strongest form when I was eighteen, and the charm allowed me to transform into this earlier age. My appearance, strength, and endurance are the only things that change. My knowledge, personality, and other such things are the only things that remain the same. Even though I look and feel younger, I'm still a shriveled up Old Ghoul on the inside!" Cologne explained with a little enthusiasm.

"Wow, this is the first time I've actually heard you call yourself 'Old Ghoul.'" Ranma commented.

"Well, when you hear yourself being called a name, you begin to believe that you are what you are, and I think it was time I faced the facts." Cologne said.

"So, how long does that form last?" Ryoga asked.

"Until I tear my skin off." Cologne said.

They all pictured Cologne to literally tear her skin off, and become 'the Old Ghoul' once again. "Ugh!" they all shouted in unison.

"Well, that's enough about me for now! So, why don't you become guardians too?" Cologne suggested.

Mousse and Ryoga exchanged glances, and they turned back to Cologne. "Uh, what do you mean by 'guardians'?" Ryoga asked.

"You will guard Jusenkyo's curses from affecting more human beings, of course!" Cologne said.

"Hey, I thought I was the only one perfect enough for the job!" Ranma exclaimed.

"You are, but why not have a little competition to see who is the most worthy of being the Jusenkyo guardian?" Cologne suggested.

The three exchanged glances, and smirks appeared on their faces as they realized that if one of them became a guardian, and he'd be called the number one martial artist in the world, or so they thought.

"Why not!" they shouted in agreement.

"Then it's settled. You are to complete this one task, and we'll see who the worthy one is, and whoever wins two out of three, wins." Cologne initiated the competition, and they all agreed to it.

... ... ...

A/N: Well, what do you think of this chapter? I thought that it was time that I included a little more competition to the story, and maybe include the two most renowned of all of Ranma's rivals, and I thought Hey! Why not put Ryoga and Mousse into this story too? I thought it was interesting to imagine, and I hoped you guys think it's a good idea too. So please rate, comment, and review this chapter! Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!


	7. A Friendly Competition between Enemies

**A New Challenge**

**-**Chiba Hiro

... ... ...

*I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content. It all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and viz media.*

**Chapter 6: **A friendly competition between enemies

… … …

The next morning, the three martial artists gathered around Cologne to see what it is they are to be seeking.

"Okay, the rules for the competition are simple. Whoever finds the most items on this list wins, and you cannot fight over it once one of you claims the item, and it is automatically his and his alone, until the end. Each item counts for a point, and there are currently five items on this list, you have the limit of four days, and you are to find everything on these grounds, is that clear?" Cologne explained, and the boys nodded.

"With that in mind, Ranma is in the lead with one point. That leaves you with four more items to go. I will hold onto the list and the map, and I'll tell you where to go, and from there, you'll have to search on your own. No underhanded tactics, and all if fair play, do you understand?" Cologne finished.

"Yes." They said.

"Good, now your next item on the list is to find the a hydrangea flower. You have until the end of the day to get your hands on a hydrangea, and bring it back to me. Is that clear?" Cologne said.

"Yeah, but I have a question." Ryoga said.

"What is it?" Cologne asked.

"What if there're more hydrangea flowers, and if we happen to each get one, does that mean we're tied again? And another thing, why does Ranma automatically get one point if he started a day ahead of us?" Ryoga asked.

"Well, that's your fault, and the sooner you find me that hydrangea flower first, the better your score will be. Now get going!" Cologne ordered, and the three rushed into the forest to search for the hydrangea.

… … …

They spent the next few hours wandering around aimlessly trying to find the hydrangea flower.

"Wait, if my memory serves me right, hydrangea flowers always grow by the bunch, and if this is supposed to be a competition, then the first one who grabs a hydrangea will have to get it to Cologne. But, she didn't mention anything about who exactly, and whatever it takes to get it to her, we'll have to fight for it!" Mousse explained in a rather loud voice, and Ranma and Ryoga who happened to be near, heard this, and decided to work harder as well.

… … …

Ranma rounded a tree in the bend, and looked through bush after bush, when the feeling of hot, gruff breath went down his neck. This sent shivers down his spine, and he slowly turned his head to meet a big, brown bear snorting at him, and Ranma shot up like an arrow, and attempted to stay still as the bear inspected him.

Whatever I do, don't move! He thought, and it was just bad luck that a trickle of sweat dripped from the side of his face, and fell on the bear's nose, and immediately, the bear rose on its hind legs, and stood a full eight feet tall, and Ranma's eyes bugged out as the bear lashed out, and started chasing him around.

"Ah! Get away from me, you stupid bear!" Ranma shouted back, but the bear kept pursuing him.

… … …

A similar event happened with Mousse, but being blind as he was, even with glasses, the blind geek wandered through the forest aimlessly, and didn't see that there was a branch in front there, and he crashed into it heavily.

Mousse stumbled backward and tripped over a tree's root. But wait! Didn't roots normally stay still? Why is this root moving? Mousse thought, and looked to wear his feet was, and he realized his mistake. The harmless tree root turned into a boa constrictor, and Mousse was screaming for his life as the boa wrapped itself around his legs, preventing him from getting up and running away.

"Ah! Somebody help me!" Mousse shouted out, but the only people within meters happened to be Ryoga and Ranma, but he was busy being chased by the brown bear.

… … …

Meanwhile, Ryoga went through the bushes, trying to find the hydrangea, and mistakenly checked under a bush with a family of squirrels nesting underneath.

"Aw! Squirrels! Well, cute little guys, aren't you?" Ryoga cooed at them, and proceeded to stroke the baby squirrel under its chin, but the older squirrel (possibly the mother) screeched, and scratched wildly at Ryoga's hand, and Ryoga jumped back from pain and startled from the sudden scratches, his hand was covered in blood, which he realized that the mother squirrel's claws are surprisingly sharp.

The mother squirrel got furious, and lashed out at Ryoga, and proceeded to chase him around.

"Oh no! Get away from me, you deranged squirrel! Go back to your babies now, please!" Ryoga shouted back, but the mother squirrel kept on chasing poor Ryoga.

Sometime in the middle of all this, the mother squirrel was joined by a group of squirrels. When Ryoga looked back, he had an exaggerated sweat moment. "You've gotta be kidding me! Now there's a whole swarm of squirrels! I never thought squirrels were this protective! I think they're out to get me!" Ryoga shouted out.

"HELP ME!" they all shouted from different parts of the forest at the same time.

… … …

Meanwhile, Cologne situated herself on a log, and dozed off for a few minutes, until the message reached her. Cologne was rudely awakened by the scream for help from the boys.

"What could be the problem?" Cologne wondered, and stood alert.

"I think they might be in trouble! But, wait, they're an accomplished trio, I'm sure they can handle themselves out here." Cologne assumed, and resumed her peaceful nap.

… … …

Somewhere in the middle of all this, the bear, the snake, and the squirrels managed to get all three of the martial artists together in the same spot.

"Where'd you guys come from?" Ranma asked, panting.

"That's what we'd like to know!" they both replied.

"Looks like you've been chased around by some animals, huh?" Ranma teased.

"Like you could talk!" Mousse cursed. "You're being chased by a bear, and I gotta snake behind me!" Mousse shouted.

"Oh yeah, well I've been chased around by a gang of vicious squirrels!" Ryoga exclaimed.

Ranma and Mousse exchanged glances, and they broke into a fit of laughter.

"You guys think it's funny? Look at my hand! One of those squirrels scratched me so hard that the blood's coming out!" Ryoga snapped, and waved his blood stained hand in the air in front of the fitful boys.

"S-Sorry…but, ha… you've got yourself into the weirdest spot ever!" Ranma exclaimed through choked fits of laughter.

"So! I've attracted a band of squirrels! You got yourself a bear! I'd rather take my chances with a squirrel, or a snake!" Ryoga joked.

"You take that back, Ryoga! I'll have you know that I attracted the most dangerous animal around these parts! So, ha! I beat you guys!" Ranma shouted back.

"You're one to talk! I've attracted the most feared creature of the Amazon! The Boa Constrictor will choke the living lights out of those squirrels, and the bear before they get a chance on it!" Mousse fired back.

"Why don't you prove it, Mousse!" Ryoga and Ranma shouted at the same time.

"Fine, I will! Boa Constrictor, I employ you to attack the bear!" Mousse ordered. Seemingly, the Boa Constrictor obeyed, and struck at the bear.

"You too, bear!" Ranma ordered, and the bear leaped over him, and dove at the snake, and the two animals engaged in a fierce battle.

"Well, what about you? Aren't you gonna get in there?" Ryoga asked the band of squirrels, but the squirrels were scared of the fighting animals.

"Wimps!" Ryoga shouted back at them.

"I guess that settles it!" Ranma sighed.

"Yeah, I agree." Mousse said.

"That's enough standing around, you guys! Let's get that hydrangea flower!" Ryoga exclaimed, and they raced off to find the flower.

… … …

It was nearly five hours after the boys set off to find the flower, and Cologne decided to cook their meals or them. As she tasted her stew, she thought of the whereabouts of Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse.

I wonder where those boys have gotten ended up now. I gave them twelve hours to find the flower, yet it's taking this long. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't fuss over it, they'll be back soon enough.

... ... ...

The sun was nearing the horizon, and the three boys found it extremely difficult to find one measly hydrangea flower, and claim it as one of their own. They decided to stick together in order to find the hydrangea, at least when one spotted it, they would each fight to own one and return it to Cologne.

"We've been wandering around this forest for half a day, and yet we can't find this flower! Are you sure that Cologne told us that this was the right place?" Ryoga asked.

"Ryoga, we've come to far to doubt that Cologne might not be right about this! I want to see this through to the end!" Mousse declared.

"Uh, guys, before you break into a fight in front of me, look to your left." Ranma said, breaking up their argument.

They stopped talking, and looked toward the direction that Ranma had indicated. In the middle of the clearing, there was a hydrangea bush, and it was exactly what they had been trying to find in the first place.

"There it is!" they shouted in unison, and charged at the bush. They began poking around the bush, and tried to pry the leaves of the flowers, but each time one removed one, the other two fought over it and ended up destroying it, and moving on to another flower in an endless cycle.

By the time the bush was completely bare of flowers all three were on the grass, exhausted. "Damn, it's gonna be harder than I thought, huh." Ranma said to himself, and they had to agree with him.

"What do we do now? All of these flowers are destroyed, and it's because of our stupid competition. We can't just go searching for another bush like this." Ryoga sulked.

Ranma was about to assent, but one flower that remained untouched caught his eye, and he silently made a move toward it, but the two of them noticed in time, and they all tried to grab the flower.

All three of their hands cupped around the flower, and it pulled out, and each one of them expressed a triumph of victory, before they realized that they were all holding on to the flower.

"Hey, let go! I saw it first!" Ranma shouted.

"What are you talking about? I saw it too, and I acted first, so I say it's mine!" Ryoga argued.

"No way, I saw it, and grabbed it a fraction of a second before either of you two could, and this flower rightfully belongs to me!" Mousse protested, and they immediately broke into a long standing argument.

"Alright, Ranma, Mousse, maybe we should fight to see who is worthy of this flower!" Ryoga proposed.

"That doesn't sound like a bad plan, Ryoga." Mousse said.

"I agree!" Ranma said. "As soon as you guys both let go of the flower, then we can start!"

"Oh no, you're not going to trick me by using some underhanded tactic! You just want us to let go of it so you don't have to drop it, and then you're gonna run away without even fighting, huh?" Mousse caught on.

"So what if I am?" Ranma challenged.

"Why don't we all let go of the flower together at the same time?" Ryoga suggested.

"No, Ryoga, 'cause then you'd be the one who's closest to the flower when we drop it, and who knows what you might do! It can't be any better than what I was thinking of doing!" Ranma protested.

"So, you got any bright ideas on what we should do?" Ryoga asked.

"No." Ranma said. At this moment, Ranma and Ryoga unknowingly let go of the flower, and got into fighting stances. It took a few minutes for Mousse to register that he was the only one left holding the flower, and then a big grin appeared on his face, which grew into a maniacal laugh.

"What the-?" both boys stopped to look at Mousse for a second, before he disappeared, then they too realized that Mousse took the flower with him.

Furious, they followed Mousse. "Hey, you get back here, Mousse!" Ranma shouted after.

"Sorry, but I got the hydrangea, so finders keepers, remember?" Mousse taunted, and increased his speed, before Ranma sped past him, and kicked him in the face.

"Ha, I surprised you, huh?" Ranma shouted, and lifted his foot from Mousse's now foot imprinted face. "Now, hand me the flower before I beat it out of you!" he threatened, and grabbed Mousse's shirt to keep him from escaping.

Mousse looked down at his hands, and he realized that the flower must have slipped out from his hand when Ranma kicked him in the face. "Ah! I don't have it anymore!" he cursed.

"What good are you then?" Ranma said, and inspected the ground for the hydrangea, but it was nowhere to be seen. Immediately, he realized that Ryoga was no longer there, and they turned around to see that Ryoga's retreating figure was hightailing in the opposite direction from where they came in from.

"Hey, Ryoga, you're going the wrong way!" Ranma shouted after, but he had to resort to chasing him.

Mousse just laid on the ground where Ranma left him. "Uh, wait a minute! I'm coming too!" Mousse shouted, and he got up immediately, forgetting that the foot mark was still imprinted on his face, and he chased after the other two as well.

Ranma launched a rock at Ryoga's head, and it hit him right on the mark. Ryoga fell to the ground, and dropped the flower as well. Ranma dived for the flower, but Mousse intervened with his kunai, and chains.

Ranma held them off, but Ryoga sneaked it from behind them, and attempted to run,

Knowing that he had a poor sense of direction, he had no idea of where to go, and he failed to realize that Ranma and Mousse were ganging up on him from behind him.

When they were close enough, they pinned him to the ground before he could run off. "Hey, let go of me!" Ryoga cried, and the flower slid out of his hand once again.

"I got it now!" Mousse declared, and used his chain to catch it, but Ranma broke it, and grabbed the flower with his lightning-fast speed.

He turned around to send them a victory smirk, and then ran in the correct direction.

Both of them were beyond furious, and they ended up charging after the speeding pigtailed martial artist.

By the forest's age, Ranma thought he had beaten them, and turned around for one last look, but was surprised when a blast of energy was sent from behind him, and he dodged it just in time to see that Ryoga had cornered him from the front, and he had his arms folded across his chest, preventing Ranma from exiting the forest.

Ranma turned around, but Mousse blocked his path by closing off his only chances of escaping by using his web of chains. "I got you cornered. There's no way you can escape now! All of the branches above us have been cut down by my amazing blades, and my chains block your only way of escaping, and Ryoga has you cornered from the front, so I'd say that the flower is good as ours!" Mousse declared.

"Oh yeah, well, let's see you guys take it from me!" Ranma challenged, and put the flower inside his pocket to prevent it from being destroyed in the upcoming fight.

Mousse launched his projectile weapons at Ranma, but Ranma ducked just in time. The weapons took Ryoga by surprised, and they wrapped around him. "Hey, Mousse, what're you doing?" Ryoga asked, and struggled to get free, but he fell to the ground.

"Well, that's my ticket out! Thanks a lot, guys!" Ranma teased, and ran past the incapacitated Ryoga.

"Hey, that was an underhanded trick, Mousse! Let me go, and then we'll catch Ranma together!" Ryoga proposed.

"Yeah right, how do I know you won't just make off with it once you have it! I'll do it alone!" Mousse objected, and followed after Ranma, only to have Ryoga grab Mousse with his only remaining arm, and Mousse had to resort to dragging Ryoga after Ranma.

Ranma was only a few meters away from them, but all the adrenaline went to Mousse's head, and he jumped at Ranma from ten meters away, and trapped Ranma under him with Ryoga still holding onto Mousse's leg.

"The ride's over! Give me the flower!" Mousse demanded.

"What's with all the noise over there?" a familiar voice asked, and the bushes rustled, and Cologne stepped through it, and saw that all three martial artists were together again, and their hands all clasped the flower once again.

"I got the flower, Cologne!" they shouted in unison.

"My, that was impressive. You managed to obtain a flower when you all worked together to bring it to me. I think you will do well." Cologne said.

... ... ...

A little while later, they situated themselves near the fire, and food that Cologne prepared, and they were each given a bowl, and they started eating, when a figure hobbled toward them.

They looked up, and Ranma recognized it was the Joketsuzoku elder who assigned him to the task in the first place.

"My, I do seemed to have stumbled upon a troublesome bunch." He commented.

"Uh, I'm sorry, Mr. Chief. It looks like I attracted some unwanted attention. I got a little help, and you told me not to, so you can tell me what to do already." Ranma said shamefully, and the other two joined in.

"We are too. When we heard that Ranma had been chosen for a position like this, we just couldn't resist, so we used his task as an excuse to challenge him." Mousse admitted, and so did Ryoga.

"I don't have a problem with it." the elder said, which completely shocked them.

"I sent my spies to watch over you, and I must say that you are impressive. It seems like today's youth are eager to do us old ones a favor. And because you showed courage, and teamwork, I will grant you permission to join our young friend as 'the Jusenkyo Guardian Trio.' How's that sound?" the elder said.

"But, I thought that you said that I couldn't get help from the outside?" Ranma asked.

"That's right, but they technically did not help you. They unknowingly did it for themselves, and you were focusing on how to find it yourself, and that explains why you impressed me. You worked individually to obtain the hydrangea, and yet you worked together to get the task complete. Which is why I grant you all the position." The elder said, and all three of their faces brightened and they started talking nonsense to the elder, but the elder found it amusing.

"Very well, all three of you could use a night out of the cold, and even though it's the second day, I think that you have all of the requirements from what I could see." He finished.

"Follow me after you're done with supper." He led, and they hurriedly finished their meals, and followed him, leaving Cologne there.

"I won't be long, dear." The elder waved at the young matriarch, and she smiled back.

... ... ...

Later, they were going through the grounds, and a cottage seemed to be waiting for them as the elder led them inside. The cottage on the inside had one table for eating, three chairs, one big bed, a fireplace, a small kitchen, and a TV.

"Woah!" they said in amazement as they went to each of the corners of the cottage.

"Welcome, this is going to be your home while you work, and please enjoy it. You will all get your shifts later, and now it's time to turn in." the elder said, and started to leave, but Ranma stopped him.

"What about the other two tasks? Didn't you say I'd need to complete three of them?" Ranma asked.

"Yes, but I think you've proven it all in one task, so I'll let it slide for now, so get some sleep, and I will see you all in the morning. And, tomorrow, you should all be expecting two more beds so you don't end up having to sleep together in that one." He said, and left the cottage without another word.

"Well, that was weird. And, even if it's one day, I think we can manage to sleep together, we've done it before, haven't we?" Mousse said.

"Yeah, but what do you mean by 'weird'?" Ryoga asked.

"In one moment we're all competing for who would be the best, and we ended up bringing the flower together, now this old guy we hardly even know says we're worthy of a job as guardians, but I don't see the point. If Jusenkyo is meant for curses, why don't we just let it be cursed, and let whoever comes here be dumb enough to swim in them." Mousse said.

"Speak for yourself." Ranma muttered.

"What was that?" Mousse asked.

"Ah, nothing." Ranma said.

"But, should we really just sleep here knowing that we left Cologne alone by the forest?" Ryoga asked with heavy concern.

"Why? Cologne already has a home to go to. It doesn't make sense if she were to live with us when she has a real house." Mousse said.

"Oh, yeah." Ryoga agreed.

"Alright, guys, let's turn in! We got a big first day tomorrow." Ranma said.

"Yeah." they agreed, and they turned the lights off and went to bed.

... ... ...

A/N: I hope you guys like a little competition for this chapter, it's by far my longest chapter, and I had to push myself to make an effort to create a bigger chapter! I promise that the next chapter I make will be longer that this one! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because there's going to be more. Please rate, comment, and review! Thanks for reading!


	8. First Day on the Job

**A New Challenge **

-Chiba Hiro

*Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content, it all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.*

... ... ...

**Chapter 7: **First Day on the Job

The next day was Monday, the martial artists were in for a rude awakening as the Joketsuzoku woke them up with a loud bang on a rather large gong he had took with him. The gong had been so loud that the birds from the forest a mile or so away could hear it, and if that was not enough, Ranma was the only one who missed the loud bang.

"How can that damned Ranma sleep through something as loud as that?" Ryoga shouted above the gong's constant vibrations. He glared at the peacefully sleeping pigtailed teen, and he and Mousse tried wake him up as best he could.

The gong appeared not to be loud enough for the martial artists, so Mousse tried using a megaphone that he happened to conceal beneath his robes, and held it into Ranma's ear and ordered for him to wake up. Still, the martial artist slept through it.

The Lost Boy tried shaking the bed, but Ranma peacefully slept through it as well. They both resorted to using the loudest things they could find in the cottage, but Ranma did not even stir.

"Damn, he's even more stubborn in his sleep than you are, Ryoga." Mousse commented.

"As much as I hated that comment, I find myself agreeing with it. Still, Ranma's a martial artist, if he wasn't able to hear all that and still not wake up, he must be dead, or something." Ryoga said.

"No, I can still hear him breathing." Mousse said.

"Unconscious, maybe?" Ryoga suggested.

Mousse checked Ranma, and Mousse proved him wrong. "Nope, he's definitely not unconscious." Mousse said.

"Then what do we do? Work's gonna start in an hour. Should we just leave him?" Ryoga contemplated.

"That's a good idea." Mousse agreed, and the two did not even attempt to tiptoe out of the cabin, but before they could reach the door knob, Ranma sat up with a half-asleep expression on his face, and jumped out of bed to stop them.

"And, just where do you think you're going?" Ranma asked, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Woah, that was fast." Mousse and Ryoga said together at the same time.

"Thought you could leave me behind, do ya? I think you'd better think again!" Ranma exclaimed in his half-asleep state, and tackled both boys to the ground, and sat on top of them as well.

"We're sorry!" Mousse apologized. "It was all my idea! You wouldn't wake up, so we thought we could leave you behind!"

"Well, you failed!" Ranma snapped, and removed something from his ears. They were earplugs!

"What? You had earplugs the whole time?" Ryoga asked.

"Yeah, but one of them came off, and I sensed you guys leaving. I may have had earplugs on, but I still sense your ki-levels." Ranma said, fully awake.

"That's great and all, but would you mind getting off of us. Please!" Mousse exclaimed.

"Sorry." Ranma said, and let them breathe for a while.

"Anyway, I don't think we should go to work without having to eat first. Or did you guys forget about food?" Ranma said.

Mousse and Ryoga exchanged looks, and their stomachs started to grumble, which they were in a vain attempt to hide their starving stomachs.

"I thought we could rough it out by catching our food, so I thought breakfast would come our way, and we could hunt for it." Mousse said.

"Uh huh, yeah, I'm not convinced." Ranma said, and went to the refrigerator to check on their food supply.

"Well, whadda ya know! This fridge has everything we might need for food! Now, why don't you wait on the table while I go cook us some grub, okay?" Ranma smiled cheerfully, and put on an apron he found in one of the kitchen drawers.

Mousse and Ryoga situated themselves on the dining table, and witnessed their new co-worker cook breakfast for them.

"Wow, that's unexpected." Mousse said.

"Yeah, who would've thought that Ranma would be this nice? Still, I wish it were Akane cooking the meal, then I would be in heaven!" Ryoga exclaimed his last remark, and went into a daydream of Akane feeding him some of her homemade cooking.

"I wish Shampoo were here cooking for me. I too would be in heaven!" Mousse put in, and went into a daydream himself.

But, before they could go any further with their daydreams, Ranma interrupted them by putting a plate of omelets, three pancakes, and three slices of toast on the table, and gave them a glare which they fainted to.

"Well, excuse me for being nice to you! I thought I'd do this because I'd save the trouble of going on a hunt for food! Maybe I should eat all this by myself! Then we'll see how much you'll miss Akane and Shampoo's cooking!" Ranma shouted, and sat down on the remaining chair, still glaring at them.

Gulp. They had not seen Ranma act like that before, and with something as trivial as cooking breakfast for one's comrades.

Ranma's eye sparkled, and a smirk appeared on his face. "Well, are you gonna eat some? Or are you watch me eat the breakfast I so kindly made for all three of us!" Ranma tested.

They gulped, and then pushed some omelets, a pancake, and toast onto their plates. They all ate in a flash, and Ranma was left with the cleaning.

"Ah! That was delicious! Don't you think?" Ranma asked as he collected their plates to wash.

"Uh..." they sounded, and their faces showed complete despair as they ate Ranma's devilishly good breakfast!

I never thought that Ranma could cook this good! Ryoga thought as he shuddered at the thought that Ranma cooked a thousand times better than Akane!

I never thought that Ranma could cook at the same level as Shampoo! Mousse thought as he shuddered at the thought that Ranma was equally matched with his beloved Shampoo!  
"No!" they both shouted in unison as they came to the same conclusion.

Ranma was startled by their sudden yell, and turned to see that Mousse and Ryoga stood as still as statues.

"Huh, what's up, guys? You need anything?" Ranma asked, and the two just shook their heads stiffly in reply.

"I thought so." Ranma said as he finished with the last of the dishes, and then he removed the apron around his waist.

"Let's go."

... ... ...

"Alright, your duties are to attend to your jobs as strictly as possible. I want you to stand guard at the entrances that I appoint you to, and you will stay on guard until one of us relieves you of your post, and then you are done for the day. I hope you have eaten a big breakfast, for I shall not send anyone to relieve you until noon. After lunch, you will go back to your stations, and you will not be relieved until sundown. Is that clear?" the Joketsuzoku elder explained.

"I will be here to observe your work in the event you don't know what to expect." He said, and finished his explanation. "Are there any questions, whatsoever?"

"I do. What are we supposed to do if we do get a visitor?" Ranma asked.

"We rarely have visitors, so I suggest that you ask for their names, ages, where they come from, and why they have come here." The elder explained.

"But, isn't that prying?" Ryoga asked. "And, what if I get lost?"

"It isn't until you are certain that he/she means no harm." He said. "And, Cologne will be helping you, just as long as you stay with her. You'll be seeing each other as soon as possible."

"One last question. What if we have to go to the bathroom?" Mousse asked.

"Just turn to the nearest bush, or tree and do your business, and whatever the cost, do not wander off from your posts, you are to watch and make sure no one else falls into the springs. Understand?"

"Yes!" they shouted back.

"Good, now Mousse, you are stand guard from the main entrance to the lower grounds. Patrol it as you se fit. Ryoga, you are to stand on patrol on the middle grounds which will be between Mousse and Ranma's areas. Ranma, you will take the high ground which is at the end of the valley."

"Furthermore, I will tell you that each of the springs in the lower grounds are mild cursed springs, the middle grounds are higher but not too threatening, and the high grounds are where the more dangerous and more threatening cursed springs lie." He said as he laid out a map to show them their stations, and left them.

"Alright, good luck, guys!" Ranma exclaimed, and they dispersed.

... ... ...

Mousse made it to his station, and stayed directly under the gate. This is gonna be a boring day, he thought, and leaned against the gate post, and sat there.

Just then, two kids, a boy and a girl, were playing ball, and were a little close. He watched them intently, and began thinking to the first time when he and Shampoo had played ball with him. That was the first, and last time she played ball with him. After that, Cologne told her to quit playing ball and start training. She was a Joketsuzoku Amazon after all, and that left Mousse to play by himself.

He snapped back to reality when the boy threw the ball a little too hard, and it sailed over the girl's head, and she tripped backward when she attempted to catch it. The ball hurtled in Mousse's direction, and Mousse had to think quickly. He jumped from his sitting position, and caught the ball. He helped the little girl up, and checked her for wounds, but she only had a minor bleeding on her hand, still, she cried.

Mousse thought of what to do, then he took a band-aid from his endless supply of concealed items, and wrapped it around the girl's bleeding hand.

"You must be more careful about playing around here. It's really dangerous." Mousse said (in Mandarin) to the young girl, and used a handkerchief to clean her of the dust.

"Thanks, Mister." She replied.

"And, you, young man! You better be careful with her! Girls are very fragile, and if you're not careful, something worse could've happen to her! You're lucky it was just some dust, and rocks! If you're friends with her, then it's your job to protect her from things like that! I thought that boys your age would have better control over the ball!" Mousse lectured, and knelt down to the confused boy. Mousse smiled, and patted his head.

"Okay? No more playing like that." Mousse said, and handed the boy the ball.

"Okay, mister. Thanks." The boy said.

"Now, run along now. Your parents must be worried about you." Mousse lectured, and the two ran off together.

"Kids." Mousse said, and returned to his post.

... ... ...

Meanwhile, Ryoga was attempting to go to the middle grounds, but he ended up at the forest's edge, and he studied the map harder. Damn, I'm nowhere near the middle grounds! Where's Cologne when I need her? He thought, but just as he thought about her, Cologne appeared in her younger form again, and flipped off a branch, and landed in front of him. Ryoga was startled, and fell on his butt as Cologne landed nearly five inches away from his face!

"Is there anything wrong? I was told to be your guide, and make sure you don't run off and get lost." Cologne said, and helped Ryoga up to his feet.

"Let's go to your post." She said, and Ryoga followed Cologne.

They made it to Ryoga's post, and a woman who looked amazingly like Akane, but older, sat near the edge of a spring.

She looked to be pregnant, and about to give birth. She was obviously in pain, and who was Ryoga Hibiki if he didn't even attempt to help her.

Ryoga went up to the woman, and knelt beside her with Cologne watching from three meters away.

"Um, miss, this is a very dangerous place to be right now, you shouldn't be here at all." Ryoga said, and the woman looked at him with a pained expression.

"Uh...I'm...about to...give birth. Can you help me?" the woman asked (in Mandarin, of course).

"Sorry, I don't understand." Ryoga replied in Japanese, because he did not understand a word of Mandarin.

"Let me handle it." Cologne said, and appeared next to the woman in three seconds flat.

Cologne exchanged words with the woman, and Cologne told Ryoga to go to his post, and turn around so he would not see anything, and Ryoga did not argue as the woman who looked like an older Akane, gave a painful yelp, and Ryoga immediately did what he was told.

The entire time the process was happening, Ryoga kept hearing hard, and long breaths, and groans, yet Ryoga chose to ignore them, and kept his focus on what was in front of him.

After what seemed like an excruciating amount of time, Cologne relieved Ryoga, and told him to see something. Ryoga did not argue, and Cologne led him to where the woman was, and the woman turned around, and cradled her newborn in her arms.

The woman muttered something in Chinese, to which Cologne safely translated it into 'It's a boy.'

The boy let out a wail of crying, and the woman said something again.

"She said 'Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, but my name is Ai Teng, and I would like you to name my son.'" Cologne said.

"She wants me to name her son?" Ryoga asked.

"Yes, she says she'll give you three hours to come up with a name to call her son." Cologne said.

"Alright. Ms. Teng, I'll come up with the best name you'll be proud of! Maybe Akane will praise me for naming her son!" Ryoga said, but Cologne said something to the woman, which involved the name 'Akane', and the two giggled.

"Hey, what're you two talking about?" Ryoga asked, confused as to why the two were giggling.

"Nothing."

... ... ...

In the midst of all this happening, Ranma went to the high grounds of Jusenkyo, and he found the elevation to be highly exerting. Damn, it's too high to be called a valley, I can barely breathe normally! He thought, and stood at his position.

But, before he could get the lay of the land, someone was attempting a sneak attack on him from behind, but he intercepted it by flipping the unfortunate attacker around, and pulling the stranger's arm behind his back, and almost twisting it.

The man let out a yelp, and shouted something in the strange tongue which Ranma had neither head nor tails of.

"What's this guy trying to say?" Ranma asked in his own familiar language, when the stranger heard Ranma speak in Japanese, he immediately started yelling in Japanese as well, most of it included 'Let me go!' or 'My arm's gonna break!'

"You want me to let you go? Why should I do that when you were planning on attacking me? Why shouldn't I break your arm on the spot so I could teach you a lesson on how not to attack a man with his back turned?" Ranma threatened, and twisted the man's arm a notch further, but it did not break.

"I thought you were harmless! I was only trying to look for food! When I saw how healthy you looked, I wanted to..." the man started, but Ranma interrupted.

"Let me guess, you wanted a meal from me? That's why you attacked me? But, I don't have anything with me." Ranma pointed out. "So, what makes it the excuse that you're only looking for food? Unless, you were planning on eating me."

"No! I would never dream of eating another human being! I just wanted you to help me, but I never wanted to attack!" he pleaded as Ranma tightened his grip on the man's arm, preparing to completely twist the arm if it went any further.

"But, I sensed your aura, and your aura had the intent of murder and lust. Why should I believe you when you had the aura of criminal intent?" Ranma asked.

"No, but I seriously do need help!" he pleaded for the last, time and was preparing for the pigtailed martial artist to completely tear his arm clean off his shoulders, but the grip lightened, and he let go altogether.

The man turned to Ranma, and held his arm in a cradle for he was not expecting to be left without a serious injury. He stood up slowly, and Ranma also faced him, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he did so. Ranma circled the man more than five times, and then contemplated on something.

"Your aura completely lets off a distinguished intent of sincerity and truth. If that happened, I have no other choice but to believe you. So, I'm letting you off for now, and tell me exactly what you want from me. Maybe I might consider cooking you up something that may help you." Ranma said as his expression held a cold grin, and eyes like ice.

"I still don't trust you, but after I hear your explanation, I'll agree, but if you don't spill the beans right now, I'll tear that arm clean off your shoulders!" Ranma threatened.

The man believed it, and he took a seat on a boulder, and Ranma sat on a boulder opposite from this stranger, listening to his story.

"Well, first of all, my name is Rong Shen Teng, and I need help." Rong Shen Teng said. "Call me Mr. Teng." He said.

"Well, Mr. Teng, tell me everything. From the beginning." Ranma initiated.

The man began going through his life story, and then he went up to telling about his wife who was dreadfully hungry a few hours ago, how he had little money, and their house being away, and to top it off, his wife was pregnant with his son.

"And, I left her to wait for me until I could find food. But, I could not find anything in this barren land with nothing but springs." He said.

"I see. But, what are you and your wife doing here anyway? You could've gone to the village of Amazons, or Joketsuzoku. It's the only place of civilization that's within a mile's walk from here. Why didn't you go there? Or could it be...that you want something from here?" Ranma concluded, and his eyes narrowed into a locking gaze that held the man's gaze in a frozen state of fear and confusion.

"It's because...I never knew." He said.

"Why are you and your wife here? That's my primary question?" Ranma interrogated further.

"I...heard a rumor that said this place had magical water, and that I could help my wife give a quick, non-painful, delivery. That's why we're here." He said.

"Then consider this, Jusenkyo is famous for it's magical waters, but it will not grant her a safe, quick, or non-painful delivery. In fact, these springs are so magical that they are said to be cursed, and once you land in one, you're cursed for life, and you never want to have a child who's born in here. It's only a matter of time before some dumb person gives birth, and decides to wash their newborn baby in the closest possible spring. That would prove to be troublesome, huh?" Ranma said, all the while holding a smirk on his face.

The man's eyes widened, and then he considered what this young man had been saying this entire time. He was about to put his wife and future son into a deep pit!

He shouted something in Mandarin, and stood up straight like a bullet. He swore under his breath, and thanked Ranma for helping him realize his mistake, and he ran down the high ground.

Ranma, with his lightning-fast speed, caught up with Mr. Teng. "I'll help you look for your wife! After all, we wouldn't want her waiting forever, right?" Ranma said, and Mr. Teng agreed.

... ... ...

A/N: Well, that's a wrap for this chapter, and I think you all know how the chapter will end when the man gets to his wife. His baby is born, he's surprised to see that his son had not been cursed, thankfully, and Ryoga was still pressing on for the right name for the baby, and now I want you guys, after reading this, to put down a name you think Ryoga should give the baby, and if I approve it in time, I'll put it as his decision in the next chapter! or maybe not. Please rate, comment, and review! Thanks for reading!


	9. Unwanted Visitors

**A New Challenge**

** -**Chiba Hiro

*I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its contents. It all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.*

... ... ...

**Chapter 8: **Unwanted Visitors

"Wow, I can't believe it, guys! It's already been three months since we started working here, and I think it's pretty boring." Ranma exclaimed while cooking their breakfast.

"Why would you say it's boring?" Mousse asked from the table.

"I mean there's not enough excitement around here." Ranma said, not turning back.

"What's there to be excited about?" Ryoga asked.

"For one thing, all we ever do is walk around the damn place on patrol, but I haven't seen anyone foolish enough to actually come into Jusenkyo. Ever since we started this job, people haven't been coming here very often." Ranma explained.

"You're right. The elder told us that Jusenkyo has unlikely visitors almost everyday before we came along. Now, I haven't seen anyone at all. Maybe we're just good at this job, and we might've scared them away." Mousse suggested.

Ranma paused to contemplate all that has been said, and flipped a pancake onto a plate. Ranma finished cooking, and brought the pancakes to the table.

"Well, eat up!" he exclaimed.

"That's it! All we gotta eat is pancakes?" Mousse complained.

"Well, if you want something else, you're just gonna have to make it on your own. I thought we could have something simple today, but you want more than just pancakes. If you're not gonna eat it, go make something yourself!" Ranma lectured.

"No, no, I'm just fine with pancakes. It's just that you make heavy breakfasts everyday." Mousse pointed out, and put some pancakes onto his plate.

"Why do I have to be the only one who cooks and cleans around here? If you haven't noticed, we don't have anything besides pancake batter, milk, juice, and a few eggs! We've spent our three months food supply on heavy meals everyday! We all got bottomless pits for stomachs, and if I made heavy meals that was meant for the entire year, I just used it all!" Ranma exclaimed, and shoved some pancakes into his mouth.

"Well, can't we go buy some groceries? We have enough money, right?" Ryoga suggested.

"Have you noticed that there are no convenient stores around for miles? We need that damned taxi driver again!" Mousse put in.

"Never mind, Mousse. I'll worry about shopping, you guys focus on eating!" Ranma insisted.

"Hey, since when did we ever get to pitch in! You're cooking, cleaning, and feeding us! What do we do? Nothing, except work!" Mousse exclaimed.

"Well, it's your fault. You never asked me, did you?" Ranma said.

"Heck, you do our laundry for us!" Mousse complained. "And now you wanna go shopping for us? That's it! After work today, you're staying home while me and Ryoga do the shopping, and cooking for tonight!" Mousse shouted.

"Fine, whatever." Ranma said. "Now, are you gonna eat?"

… … …

They continue to eat with less tension, but they are unaware that a couple of spies are watching from a distance through a spyglass.

"Well, it seems we have seen it all, brother!" the person with the spyglass exclaimed.

"Yes, after three months of observation, maybe we can carry this to the boss, Jin!" his brother said.

"Let's see. Resident Amazon: Mousse, nothing really special, Age: 18, Special Skills: Hidden Weapon Style, Curse: Duck, Weakness: His eyesight, and Ranma. What do you think? Is he a worthy opponent for the boss, Jan?" Jin said.

"I don't think he will be much of a problem. Once his glasses are taken away, he'll be blind as a bat, and then we can strip him of his weapons. He's close to useless. Moving on." Jan commented.

"Foreigner: Ryoga Hibiki, anger management problem, Age: 18, Special Skills: Hand-to-Hand Combat, and Ki Style techniques, Curse: Baby Black Piglet, and Weakness: His sense of direction, and Ranma." Jin listed.

"Not bad. I say he is a worthy opponent, he'll be tough to beat, but if you take their curses, they'll be much weaker!" Jan commented.

"Well said. Now, Foreigner: Ranma Saotome, arrogance, heir to a martial arts school, and stubborn issues, Age: 18, Special Skills: martial arts in general, Curse: Girl, and Weakness: cats, and girls." Jin finished.

"He is also the most worthy fighter. The boss will want to meet them. We'll go tell him, but first, let us meet up with these people." Jan said.

… … …

Mousse stood guard in the same place as usual, trying to act alert, but he suddenly found himself playing with one of his kunai knives. Mousse got to the point where he was totally focused on the knife, and he threw it at the fence post, which hit its mark.

"Got it!" he exclaimed, and grabbed it from the fence post, then tried it again, but this time, a hand shot out of nowhere, and grabbed the kunai.

"Huh, where'd it go?" Mousse asked himself, and looked everywhere around him.

"Ah! Where'd it go? I never miss a bulls-eye!" Mousse exclaimed.

Suddenly, a kunai hissed at him from behind, and slid past his cheek onto the post where he was supposed to aim. Mousse slid a finger to his cheek, and found that the kunai had cut him as it sailed toward the fence post.

Blood trickled down his cheek, and he turned to the source of the kunai, but no one was behind him.

Mousse grabbed the kunai, and got into a defensive stance.

"Alright, who goes there? Whoever did this will not go unpunished!" Mousse shouted in Japanese first, then he tried the Chinese translation.

Then, a finger tapped his shoulder, and Mousse's heart bounced up and down as the tap startled him, and he turned the kunai at the person, but it was a woman.

"Sorry, was that yours? I wanted to return it, but I had no idea how to return it, so I thought of hitting the mark myself, but when I threw it, I accidentally cut your cheek while I was at it. I'm not very good, you see. But that was a lucky shot, even though you got hurt. Here, let me treat your cut!" the woman babbled, and cleaned Mousse's bleeding cheek.

The woman reminded him of Shampoo, because of her hair and eyes, but this woman was speaking in fluent Japanese, which was something that Shampoo could never do.

"Um, I'm sorry to ask this, but what are you doing here? I'm Mousse by the way." Mousse said.

"My name is Jan." She said, and finished by putting a bandage over the clean cut.

"I'm here for training." Jan said, but tried as best she could to hide the evil smirk on her face.

"Training? What are you training for? Are you a martial artist?" Mousse asked.

"Yes, in a way. I am a martial artist, and I came here in search of more powerful techniques. My specialty is the Hidden Weapons Style, but I have a long way to go before it's perfected, so my Master sent me here to train, I don't know why though." She explained.

"Master? Why would your master send you here of all places?" Mousse asked.

"He said it would be refreshing if he sent me to the Jusenkyo valley. I agree with him, but when I saw you, you were playing with your kunai, and I thought I should try it." Jan said.

"But, does your master know of its secret?" Mousse asked.

"No, what secret?" Jan asked.

"Well, is your master a foreigner?" Mousse asked.

"Yes. He comes from Japan."

"Figures. Anyway, this place is too dangerous to train! You will get cursed when you touch the water in this place, and trust me, you will regret it!" Mousse warned.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be extra careful!" Jan exclaimed, and walked past Mousse, but Mousse reached out, and stopped her.

"You don't know what you're getting into here! This place is cursed! Leave before you fall into a spring!" Mousse exclaimed for the last time.

The expression on her face changed, and her eyes turned cold. "Let go of me! I can take care of myself! If you don't believe me, I challenge you to a weapons style match!" she initiated.

"What?" Mousse asked.

"Enough talk! I hereby challenge you to a weapon's battle!" Jan exclaimed.

"If I can't get through to you with words, then maybe my weapons will do the talking!" Mousse shouted, and got into a defensive stance.

Jan followed suit, and held two kunai in the same style.

The two lashed out, and Jan slashed her kunai at Mousse, but Mousse deflected it with his sleeve, and took a couple of chains out, and threw them around Jan, and pinned her to the ground.

"Too much for you yet?" Mousse asked.

"Not quite." She said, and held an ink pen in her mouth.

"What the-?" Mousse cursed, and Jan sprayed the ink into Mousse's face.

Jan broke free of the chains, and wrapped the chains around him.

"I beat you!" she exclaimed, and ran off in the opposite direction.

"Get back here, now!" Mousse shouted after, but was strangled with chains. Damn it, he thought, and lay there until help came.

… … …

Meanwhile, Ryoga stood at his position, and was also bored. He fiddled with his umbrella, and practiced with it like it was a sword.

"Ha, ha! I got you, Saotome, finally! I beat you!" he exclaimed as he finished the imaginary duel with Ranma, and emerged victorious.

"Excuse me." A voice from behind him, startled him.

Ryoga turned to the speaker, and it was a boy, about twelve years old, and he carried a bo staff on his back.

"Can I train here?" the boy asked.

"No, absolutely not! You can't train here! It's too dangerous! How did you get past Mousse?" Ryoga exclaimed.

"I walked." The boy said.

"Okay, now go away before someone starts worrying about you." Ryoga said, but a whack came down on his head.

Ryoga turned to the boy, but he disappeared.

"Alright, punk, where'd you go?" Ryoga asked, and nursed his throbbing head.

"Right here. My name is Jin, and I've come looking for you. Fight me now, Ryoga!" Jin exclaimed.

"How'd you know my name?" Ryoga asked, ignoring the challenge completely.

The boy had drawn his bo staff, and had it positioned at Ryoga's throat.

"Alright, kid, you asked for it!" Ryoga exclaimed, and punched the bo away, only to ave the boy spin it back around.

It hit Ryoga in the side, and Ryoga, somehow, felt it. The boy rushed at him, but Ryoga tilted the bo, and sent the boy flying into the air, but Jin landed on a bamboo pole.

"Face me from up here." He initiated, and twirled his six-foot bo staff.

"Alright, you asked for it again!" Ryoga exclaimed, and leapt at the bamboo pole, but knocked it over.

"Ha, ha! I got you!" he exclaimed, but only the pole came down, and the boy landed safely on another pole.

Ryoga stopped himself from falling into the spring below by catching hold of Jin's pole.

Ryoga unfolded his index finger, and held it behind him.

**"****Bakusai Tenketsu!" **Ryoga exclaimed, and stuck his index finger through the pole, and sent the boy toppling over.

Jin used his bo staff to catch himself like a pole-vault, and he landed safely on the ground. Ryoga leapt onto the ground, and got into a karate stance.

"You wanted a fight, you got it!" Ryoga challenged.

"I'm sorry, but our duel has been cut short. I have to leave now. Sorry about your ribs. I hope they don't hurt in the next three minutes." Jin said, and ran off.

"Damn him!" Ryoga cursed, and fell on one knee, nursing his aching ribs, and finally collapsing.

… … …

A/N: Well, that's it. I wanted to keep this in suspense for as long as possible, until I reveal Jin and Jan's true objectives, and the trio's new opponent. That's what this story's supposed to be called, right? A New Challenge. As for who does the grocery shopping in the end, Ranma has to do it anyway. Why am I making Ranma a housewife? It's because he's the only one who can cook better than anyone else there, right? So, it makes sense. Anyway, please rate, comment, and review this chapter, and I'll see you next time!


	10. Ranma vs Shin

**A New Challenge**

** -**Chiba Hiro

*I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its contents. It all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Media.*

... ... ...

**Chapter 9: **Ranma vs. Shin

Ranma was at his usual place of work, and stood guard over the area he was responsible for. So far he was unaware that Ryoga and Mousse had been struck down, and was nearing drowsiness. His alert senses came to him at an alarming rate, and this caused him to stand guard, for whatever lay ahead of him, lay another danger he was unaware of.

Ranma looked from side to side, and saw nothing life threatening, and his nerves calmed down.

"Good. There's nothing there." Ranma sighed, and sat down. "Being a guardian sure makes you wanna wig out over the tiniest things. I thought I sensed something, but maybe I was wrong, and it might've been a small animal."

… … …

But it was not a small animal. Completely undetected, a figure moved from his hiding place to spy on Ranma more closely, but he was still concealed.

"Good work, Jin and Jan. Pretty soon, we'll drive these numb skulls out of Jusenkyo, and the magic waters of this valley will be ours, and we'll give the entire world a taste of these curses. The first two were easy to deal with. My juniors thought that it would be easy, but now it's time to get serious. Ryoga and Mousse are weak compared to this one." The spy commented to himself.

"If I am able to play my cards right, this fellow is the heir to a foreign martial arts school. But, I will have to observe him, and get his strategy down before we can defeat him. According to my readings, this one possesses unimaginable power. Perhaps he has immeasurable amounts of ki, otherwise, he would not show signs of being human." The spy observed.

He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket, and wrote a symbol on it. He folded the paper into an origami paper crane, blew it out in front of him, and made a hand sign.

"Awaken! My Shikigami!" He said.

The crane resonated a yellow aura, and it transformed into the form of a Chinese boy no older than Ranma, a worthy opponent.

_"I, Shiru, command you to battle Ranma Saotome, and I will tell you when to stop. Your name is Shin._" Shiru ordered.

'Shin' jumped down from his hiding place, and snuck up from behind Ranma.

… … …

Ranma sensed the presence once again, and turned toward Shin. Ranma was suspicious about Shin, for he revealed almost no amount of power. Ranma knew it had to be a challenge. Shin's clothing consists of a Chinese martial artist's gi.

"Can I help you with something?" Ranma asked.

Shin's face contained no suspicion, and he left no expression to form on his face. Who is this guy? He doesn't seem normal, Ranma thought.

"_Ranma Saotome, I am Shin. I want a battle." _Shiru said through Shin in his voice.

"I don't know how you know my name so easily, but I am Ranma Saotome. Pleased to meet you, Shin. So, you wanna fight? But, I can't right now. I still have a job to do." Ranma said, trying to keep himself as uninterested as possible.

The idea of a light spar could give me some entertainment for a change, Ranma thought. I may have to consider this.

_"I won't allow you to escape this battle, Ranma." _Shiru said through Shin yet again.

"Whoever you are I don't wanna mess with you, but if you keep pestering me, I'll have no other choice but to give you what you want, right?" Ranma challenged, and folded his arms across his chest.

Shin vanished from Ranma's sight, and struck Ranma from the side. Ranma fell to his knees, and he knew that Shin meant business.

You wanna fight? I'll give you one alright, he thought. Ranma jumped at Shin, and attempted to swift kick his side, but Shin sidestepped him, and pressed a finger down on Ranma's leg. As soon as Shin applied pressure to Ranma's leg, Ranma was sent to the ground, but Shin kicked Ranma in the stomach as he fell.

Shin grabbed Ranma's shirt, and punched him in the jaw, sending him into the air. Shin made his chance, and drop kicked Ranma while in midair, but Ranma was an expert in midair combat, so he caught Shin's leg, and spun around him. Ranma grabbed the back of Shin's shirt, and punched him in the back.

Shin turned around in midair, and the two sent a flurry of punches at each other only to have each of them parried by the other's remaining hand.

Shin broke the endless cycle, and kicked Ranma in the stomach yet again. Ranma fell at a fast rate, and crashed on the ground below, leaving a small hole around him in the form of a human.

Ranma struggled to continue, and jumped out of his man-made hole. Ranma launched a flying kick at Shin, but Shin jumped out of the way, and struck Ranma down with his own flying kick.

Ranma landed on his feet with some difficulty, and got into a fighting stance to keep his opponent guessing as much as possible.

This is insane! This 'Shin' guy is good, and he keeps throwing everything I send back at me! Looks like I have to use my speed instead of my strength if I wanna get him off my back! Ranma thought.

Ranma stood still and waited for Shin to make the first move. Shin ran at Ranma like a predator trying to capture its prey in its claws, but its prey is fast on its feet. Shin launched a series of punches, but Ranma dodged, but managed to draw Shin in a spiral pattern of punching and stepping back.

Ranma was about to launch his ki charged attack, and send Shin into oblivion, but Shin anticipated this, and avoided punching Ranma at the most crucial moment in his technique, Shin leaped over Ranma, and sent a ki charged fist at Ranma's backside, as a result, Ranma was caught in a backfire of his attack.

"**Hiryuu Shoten Ha!" **Ranma named the attack as he struck with his fist, only to have the same charge come at Ranma from behind to counterattack.

**"Hiryuu Shoten Ha Backfire!" **Shin called out, and Ranma was trapped in his own vortex of charged ki.

It took a lot of Ranma's willpower in order to withstand the painfully entrapment of his own technique, plus Shin's own energy. The only thing that could not withstand the ki was Ranma's shirt. It had been shredded in many places, it was hardly a shirt, it was now in tatters, almost like rags.

Ranma looked down at his favorite Chinese silk shirt in shame. "Aw, that was my favorite shirt too!" Ranma complained. "Now you're gonna pay!"

Ranma charged blindly at Shin, but Shin dodged his punch, only to be spun around and punched in the ribs yet again.

Ranma tried painfully to stand up, but his stomach and ribs had suffered a little, and Ranma could only stay on his knees, clutching his stomach and ribs fitfully, glaring at Shin. Ranma noticed that throughout the fight, Shin had emerged without one scratch on him. He was on his knees, facing an opponent that stared down at his opponent with no mercy.

Ranma filled his reserves with some ki, and tried with all his might to get back from Shin. Ranma landed almost thirty meters from Shin, and it was the perfect range for his blast.

He won't be expecting this! Ranma thought. He may be strong in fists, but I sensed no power in them, I was hoping not to do this, but this guy left me no choice!

**"Moko Takabisha!" **Ranma shouted, and built up his confidence to the extreme yet again. "You're finished!" Ranma yelled above his charging ki, and shot the ki blast with all of his willpower.

Let's hope this works, he thought. It's a shame that it had to come to this, but Shin left me no other options but to use that. If that attack won't work, I don't know what else.

The ki blast enveloped the entire area Shin had been standing on, and exploded around him.

When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a giant crater, and no sign of Shin, the Shikigami. Ranma stared in blind amazement, and created a crater the size of a small lake.

Ranma looked all around him, and saw no sign of the boy, and sighed in relief.

"Good. There's no sign of him. That means I must've won. He must've been blasted into smithereens, and I'm glad he's not around anymore. I have to get a new shirt, and hopefully check on how the other two are doing." Ranma said, and limped toward the cottage, still clutching his stomach.

… … …

Shin appeared next to Shiru, and knelt in front of him as he did. Shiru's face widened into a grin, and congratulated Shin.

"Good work, Shin. But next time you get summoned again, you are to crush him entirely. I'm pretty sure that the boss needn't bother with this Ranma. Frankly, Ranma was a lot weaker than I thought he'd be, but that blast was strong. If I hadn't pulled you out at the last second, you'd be fried to a crisp. Thanks to you, I know how we're going to take these foreigners out." Shiru said.

"I must inform Jin and Jan of our prey's apparent victory, they need to know that even though the fight goes to Ranma, we have gained a knowledge on their fighting abilities. It won't be long, now." Shiru continued.

"Shin, dispel until I call upon you again." Shiru ordered, and Shin transformed into the paper crane again.

Shiru grabbed the crane, and placed it in his pocket. He pulled a walkie-talkie and called Jin and Jan.

"Jin, Jan. Our mission is complete, and I have information on Ranma Saotome's fighting ability. Report together again at the promised rendezvous point, the boss needn't be worried about them, our foreign prey will be dealt with by us alone." Shiru said.

_"Yes, Shiru." _Jin replied.

"_Understood." _Jan said.

"Enjoy it while you can, Ranma and friends. You will trouble the Dragon clan no longer, for we know of your secrets. It won't be long until we meet for the first time. Rest easy, and sweet dreams, for the day will come." Shiru pledged, and walked off to meet with Jin and Jan.

… … …

A/N: I want to keep this story as fresh as possible, so I'm putting a chapter up as frequent as I am able. I have a lot of free time on my hand, and I'll be able to put up chapters for the next week. Enjoy them, and don't forget to rate, review, and comment on this story. Let me know what you think, and thank you for reading!


	11. Ryoga is Captured

**A New Challenge**

** - **Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its contents. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, its creator.)

… … …

**Chapter 10:** Ryoga is Captured

… … …

Under the grounds of Jusenkyo lies a secret base, and a cloaked figure is sitting on a throne-like chair, facing Shiru.

Shiru is kneeling for was appears to be a while, but the cloaked figure began speaking to him.

"Shiru." The cloaked figure said. "I see that you have succeeded in carefully dispatching the new apprentices, and those meddling kids are temporarily immobilized."

"Yes, Master Hikari." Shiru replied.

"Move the plan into fruition, Shiru. We must inform our companions of these people." Master Hikari said.

"A very wise decision, master." Shiru said.

"We need to keep our enemies under surveillance. I want you to bring Ryoga Hibiki to me." Master Hikari ordered.

"But Master, why do we need to bring Ryoga Hibiki here? Surely we can take Ranma out ourselves, and he'll be wiped out in the blink of an eye. My Shikigami has already wounded him. What use is it if we use his rival?" Shiru asked.

"You are doubting my judgment?" Hikari said in a menacing tone.

"No, sir! I do not judge!" Shiru exclaimed almost immediately, and bowed his head, almost to the point of touching the floor with his forehead.

"Good. Go now."

"Yes, Master Hikari!" Shiru responded, and disappeared from sight as he was told.

… … …

"Jeez, will you just stop moving around?" the village elder criticized as he was dressing Ranma, Mousse, and Ryoga's wounds inside the cottage.

"Ouch! I can't do that when your bandages will more than likely kill us first! I'm suffocating here!" Ranma shouted through choked breathing. The bandages that wrapped around his chest were woven as tight as a belt, and it kept him from exerting his energy while talking.

"Well, you should be grateful! Why if I hadn't found you, you all would've died, and we can't allow you to die on the job. No indeed." The elder said, and slapped Ranma in the back as hard as he could.

"Ouch! Don't do that!" Ranma warned, and the elder proceeded to loosen the suffocating bandage.

As for Ryoga and Mousse, they were watching, quietly eating, and seeing Ranma suffer like that was pure pleasure for them. At least they got it easier than him.

"Hey, Ranma, why don't you be a man for once and take this treatment like one! After all, I like the look and sound of you right now! You're ridiculous!" Ryoga exclaimed, and laughed in between bites of food.

"Ryoga, don't eat in front of me! I hate when you people do that when I'm not doing it!" Ranma complained, and received a slap on the back again.

"Are you quite finished yet, old man?" Ranma demanded.

"I've been done for the last fifteen minutes, you fool! Now, go and eat!" the elder exclaimed.

"I don't need to be told twice!" Ranma fumed, and leaped onto the table where Ryoga and Mousse were pigging out.

"Leave some food for me, jerks!"

"No way! We worked hard for this meal!" Mousse argued.

"Who do you think cooked this for you?" Ranma shot back.

"You. But, we already finished the second course." Mousse said, and Ranma realized that Ryoga and Mousse had finished most of the food, but all that was left was rice.

"I hate you guys, you know that." Ranma said under his breath, and finished the last of the rice.

… … …

Later on that evening.

"So, there I was trying to convince this girl that Jusenkyo was too dangerous to train, and out of nowhere, she challenged me to a hidden weapons match. Sure enough, her skills in the art of concealed weaponry surpass even my own!" Mousse explained.

"I was attacked unnecessarily by a boy, and he beat me so easily! I was tied up in rope! So I got it worse than you, Mousse!" Ryoga explained his side of the story.

"Wait. Both you and Ryoga were attacked by strange people too?" Ranma asked.

"Weren't you listening? Strange people attacked us, and what's worse is we were beaten by some strangers too! I'll admit that I was embarrassed to be beaten by a female." Mousse said regretfully

"I'll admit that the boy was formidable, and I haven't seen anyone with those kinds of wits, fighting style, and looks that could easily defeat me, the greatest man in the world!" Ryoga boasted.

"Ha! You guys are both embarrassing yourselves! I can't believe a kid and a woman beat you! I mean, altogether we make a pretty unbalanced team." Ranma pointed out.

"You don't have anything to be boasting about! After all, you were defeated by some strange guy!" Mousse and Ryoga shot at him like a poison arrow.

"At least he was close to my age. But, it kinda makes me wonder if I'm really that famous in China." Ranma wondered out loud.

"Don't be so smug! How do you know that guy didn't just hear about you in the rumors? This guy actually did us a favor and kicked your hide for us!" Mousse said.

"Well, that guy had some style, at least. He managed to get away from my final attack." Ranma said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when I shot my ki-technique, I was hell bent on killing this guy before he killed me, and when I struck him, it didn't feel like he was blasted into cinders."

"What's your point?" Ryoga asked.

"It means that the fight was undecided, and he was lucky enough to get away. You see when I fired my attack, I didn't sense the full impact, and when the smoke cleared, the guy disappeared. When I tried to track down his ki energy, it completely vanished. Normally, when someone was burnt to a crisp, and left nothing but ash, his ki energy should leave a trace, but with him, it vanished altogether." Ranma explained.

"Oh, I get it. So, what you're saying is his ki signatures have vanished along with him. In extreme cases like these, one would normally assume that the victim has escaped at the last minute and maybe this guy possesses super-human abilities, and he ran away." Mousse theorized.

"No, if he had run away with super-human speed, he could still leave behind a trail of ki energy, and I could still follow him no matter how far, or fast, he may go. He just vanished, like a ghost." Ranma said.

"Either way, we have to find a way to stop these people. Somehow, the three people must be in a conspiracy, and they must have formed an attack strategy to completely destroy us one at a time." Ryoga input.

"I agree. When we work tomorrow, we have to try out this theory, and if we see that this is an attack pattern, then we have no choice but to face this threat. If not, then we're dead." Mousse said.

"Do you have to be so skeptical? After all, if we find out who the mastermind behind the attacks, then they'll stop once and for all." Ranma said.

"But, who could their leader be if we don't know they're working together? It really could be a separate attack on opposite ends." Ryoga said.

"If it was, then it wouldn't have happened at the same time, or place." Mousse pointed out.

"You're right. So, how do we know this for sure?" Ryoga asked.

"We'll have to be careful, guys. Tomorrow, we have to be alert and be ready for anything. Also…I should give you guys these." Mousse said, and gave them what looked like to be a pair of hearing aids.

"What are they?" Ryoga asked, and they all took one.

"It's to stay in touch with each other. We have to stay in contact with each other at all times, and if one of us is in trouble, then we'll help him out, and lure the attackers to the center point, finally, we'll find out for sure if they're really working a conspiracy against us." Mousse explained.

"That's really clever, Mousse!" Ranma praised. "I never knew you were so smart!"

"Well, I was top of the class in the hidden weapons style. So, it helps to be a little strategic. Alright, guys, let's get some rest. We need it for tomorrow."

"Okay." Was their reply, and the lights turned off for bed.

… … …

"Now, we'll see who will be getting who. You will be in for a big surprise tomorrow." Shiru said, spying on the cottage again.

Shiru placed a slip of paper to his forehead, and chanted out a spell in an ancient tongue, and threw the thin sheet of paper in the direction of the cottage.

"It's time for Shin to do his job. You will all fall prey to this one, for now, I send you with a will from Master Hikari to capture the one known as Ryoga Hibiki!" Shiru ordered, and the paper transformed into 'Shin' once again.

Shin slipped into the cabin, and attempted to take Ryoga by surprise, but he was surrounded by the group, and a furious Ranma.

"I knew you would be back here again, Shin. Come here for more, have you?" Ranma asked, and folded his arms across his chest as his mood instantly became hostile.

"Give up. You can't take all of us at the same time, Shin! Tell us who you've been working for, and why you guys are after us." Ryoga demanded, but Shin did the impossible. Shin disappeared from their sight, and he was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, an invisible force sprung up around Ryoga, and dragged him along the floor. Ranma and Mousse struggled to keep him from being dragged into the shadows of the night, but he slipped out from under their grips.

"Damn it! They took Ryoga!"

... ... ...

A/N: Well, I hope this chapter finds you well. And, I'm sorry that I haven't updated in almost a week. I'm just putting this up so I don't end up forgetting. I am back in school again! Yay! Now, please rate, comment, and review. Thanks for reading! More updates yet to come!


	12. The Master Plan

**A New Challenge**

** - **Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content. All of it belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, and other creators of the series.)

** … … …**

** Chapter 11: **The Master Plan

"Say goodbye, all of you." Shin said blankly, and threw a smoke bomb at Ranma. Ranma and the others were veiled in a shroud of black smoke.

"Hey!" Ranma screamed, and the veil lifted. When Ranma opened his eyes, and Shin disappeared from where he was standing a moment ago.

"Where'd you go? Come back here and fight me!" Ranma challenged, but there was no answer.

"Ranma, did you notice that Ryoga's not here anymore?" Mousse said, and they both realized that he was gone.

"You're right. Hmm, I couldn't care less about what happened to him. For all we know, he could be chasing Shin down right now, and is lost too." Ranma suggested sarcastically.

"I highly doubt that, Ranma. For one thing, Ryoga would've left a trail of destruction behind him if he ran after that guy." Mousse said.

"You're right. Hey! Since when were you so perceptive?" Ranma asked.

"I just am." Mousse said.

"Well, we know that Ryoga was standing right next to us when Shin threw that smoke bomb, and a moment later, he and Ryoga vanished. Isn't that weird? If he was here for revenge, or something, then he'll want me, not Ryoga, right?" Ranma theorized.

"No. I think there is some kind of ulterior motive behind Ryoga's disappearance. Maybe he was kidnapped." Mousse suggested.

"Yeah, but Ryoga shouldn't have been kidnapped so easily. If he were, then Ryoga would just beat the snot out of his 'would-be kidnapper'." Ranma said.

"I'm not so sure about that." Mousse said.

"Why not?" Ranma asked.

"He left his bandana here." Mousse said, and picked up the familiar tiger-striped bandana that Ryoga never leaves without.

"Then maybe he was kidnapped!" Ranma said finally.

"Well, we can't just leave him with whoever kidnapped him!" Mousse said.

"But, Shin vanished again. All of his ki signatures have disappeared, and I'm getting a faint trail of Ryoga's just a few kilometers ahead." Ranma said.

"It's the middle of the night. Should we risk it without getting at least an hour of rest before we go after him?" Mousse asked.

"Maybe. But, we can't just leave Ryoga. By the time we recover our strength, their trails will completely disappear." Ranma said.

"Then we'll have no other choice but to go after him!"

… … …

Two hours later.

"I can't believe it's been two hours, and we're not even close to Ryoga yet! I'm still picking up his ki signatures, but it feels like they're ahead of us by about five kilometers!" Ranma said, panting after two whole hours of running.

"I still sense his presence, but it feels like there's more than one." Mousse panted.

"We can't keep running like this! At this rate, we'll never catch up to Ryoga on time. Plus, it feels like it's been forever since I slept! Aah!" Mousse complained.

… … …

Shin heaved a caged pig onto his back, and ran like the wind through the valley of cursed springs.

He stopped at the end of the valley after two hours of nonstop running, but he didn't pant. Shin placed the cage down, and poured boiling hot water over the pig.

The pig was rudely awakened, and he was turned into Ryoga upon contact. Ryoga, startled, went into a panic about where he was.

"So, you're awake?" Shin said, and Ryoga calmed from his panic, and looked at Shin.

"Who are you? And, where is Ranma and Mousse? Tell me where I am! And why I'm in a cage!" Ryoga demanded.

"Oh, everything will be clear in due time. But for now, we must await further orders from my master." Shin said. "As for why you are in a cage, it's to keep you from running amok and causing danger. Now, please refrain from asking anymore crucial questions."

"Master? You mean you're working with somebody? What are you planning?" Ryoga asked.

"That is not for me to explain. But, my master will answer all your questions once he gets here. You and your friends will meet the same fate." Shin said, and disappeared into the darkness of the shadows.

"Hey, don't leave me here! At least tell me your name!" Ryoga shouted.

"My name is Shin, the Shikigami." Shin's voice echoed, and died out.

"A Shikigami? Now I'm really starting to get worried." Ryoga said to himself.

… … …

"Ryoga's ki signatures end right here." Ranma said, and stopped to put a palm on the ground. "Just as I suspected. Ryoga's ki energy is giving off two trails. One is going north by northeast, and the other is coming at us from the east."

"Then, should we wait here for the one coming from the west, or should we go to the one in the north by northeast?" Mousse asked.

"I'll stay here and deal with Ryoga coming at us from the west just to make sure. You go on ahead, and see if I was wrong." Ranma said, and Mousse ran in the direction Ranma indicated.

Ranma looked around, but saw nothing but cursed springs, and shadows. The air had a slight chill that ran through him like a thin blade of ice, and Ranma didn't like that feeling.

Ranma closed his eyes for a second, and he threw a pebble to a shadow fifteen meters to the right of him.

In return, a red parasol umbrella came hurling toward him like a drill. I knew it! He thought, and jumped out of the umbrella's drilling path. The umbrella hit a boulder some meters behind him with a giant crash.

"So, we finally caught up with you, Ryoga. Why don't you show yourself instead of hiding like a coward." Ranma suggested, and opened his eyes to see the dark figure of Ryoga walking toward him with an aura of malice around him.

"So, Ryoga. Where'd you go? I thought that you were kidnapped, but I guess I was wrong, eh?" Ranma teased.

Ryoga did not respond, instead he kept walking toward Ranma with an air of mystery.

"Uh, I don't know what the heck is going on, but you'd better say something, or at least come to your senses and meet up with Mousse to tell him that I found you first, or rather, came to me." Ranma said.

"Enough talking." Ryoga said in a monotone, and he launched a straight jab at Ranma's stomach, which got him square in the gut.

Ranma was sent flying a couple hundred meters backwards, but he managed to land back on his feet with some of his martial artist's grace.

Ranma clenched his stomach, and managed to get into a defensive stance.

"I admit, you caught me by surprise by one of your wild punches to the gut, but if I hadn't used a ki shield to keep your punch from going any further, and breaking any bones, I would've been down for the count! Not bad, huh?" Ranma taunted.

Ryoga charged at Ranma with the intensity of an ox, but Ranma leapt into the air, and drop kicked Ryoga in the back. Ryoga stumbled a little, but he managed to regain his position. Ranma stood his guard, and held one palm out in front of him, and held a smirk on his face.

"Come at me." Ranma challenged.

Instead of charging at Ranma like he usually does, Ryoga jumped back a little, and disappeared from sight.

"Where'd he go?" Ranma asked himself, and looked around for signs of the directionless boy.

A moment later, Ryoga appeared out of nowhere, and launched a knee to Ranma's crotch, hard. There was a moment of intense sweating, some redness in the face, and then finally the clenching of the worst possible place to get kicked with all the strength you could muster.

Ryoga stood above Ranma, watching Ranma huddled in a ball of shivers.

"Get up." Ryoga ordered, and hoisted Ranma up by his collar.

"You're…not…Ryoga." Ranma managed to say. "The real Ryoga would never resort to this type of fighting. He's too honorable for that."

"You figured it out, Saotome. You're very perceptive. In a way, you're right about me not being Ryoga, but you're only half right. You see, I'm borrowing this form to buy some time." Ryoga said.

"Who are you?" Ranma asked through gasps of pain.

"I am a servant of Master Hikari, the instrument of your demise, Ranma. First, your friends will taste death, and then, you will join them."

"I meant, what is your name?" Ranma reemphasized.

"I am Jin, the shape-shifter." Jin said.

"Well…if you're gonna kill me, you might as well…get it over with. What are you waiting for?" Ranma challenged.

Instead of accepting Ranma's invitation, Jin let Ranma go, and Ranma landed on his back, still recovering from the pain.

"In spite of what you tell me, you're not the one I should kill, although it is tempting, my orders were to stall for time, and now, when you're through, meet us in the secret base of the master. My master wants a duel with you." Jin said, and dropped a rolled up piece of parchment next to Ranma.

"That paper has all the directions you need to get to my master. Until then, your friends are our hostages." Jin said, and vanished from sight.

Ranma painfully grabbed the parchment, and unrolled it.

"Don't worry, guys. I'll…save you!" Ranma said, and got to his feet miraculously.

… … …

A/N: Almost done, this is the three chapter warning, in three chapters' time, I will be finished with this story, and you'll be free to read what will be left of this story. So, enjoy the final countdown. Please rate, comment, and review this chapter, and I'll get you the most exciting chapter yet 'The Final Showdown', but first come the suspenseful parts! Thanks!


	13. The Underground Labyrinth

**A New Challenge**

** - **Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content. All of it belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, and other creators of the series.)

... ... ...

**Chapter 12:** The Underground Labyrinth

... ... ...

"Great! I think Ryoga's bad sense of direction rubbed off on me!" Ranma shouted out for what became the third time that day he said out loud. He didn't care if anyone heard him like that as long as a ray of sunshine kept burning bright, but in this situation, Ranma was only on the first level of the underground hideout.

It had been ten hours since Ranma had been given the map to the underground hideout, and he spent the greater part of the previous night and morning to alert the chief. The chief would not allow Ranma to go of alone after his friends, but knowing Ranma as the stubborn martial artist he is, Ranma beat the elder up, and sent him flying with a sky rocketing kick.

Since then, Ranma had been following the map's direction it indicated, but to no avail, Ranma wound up in an underground pathway, always ending up back to where he first started. It took him nearly two hours to figure out that he was wandering around in circles.

No matter what path, or pattern he chose to follow, he always ended up back to his starting position nearly twenty minutes after trying to diverge from the paths he vowed not to take twice while he was underground.

After an endless cycle of wandering and choosing, he decided to try marking the places he walked past already, and if he went past them again, he'd known he was there previously. Good plan, right? No, even when he marked each wall with a tally, his tally marks totaled forty-seven.

"Damn it! I'm getting nowhere at this rate! Even if I mark the stupid walls, I always end up back here! What's wrong with me?" Ranma cursed out loud, and he pounded a fist to the wall closest to him.

Suddenly, the place where his fist contacted with the wall, it pressed inward like a button, and a new entrance opened up.

"Alright! I think I just found the right path!" Ranma cheered, and marked the wall with the tally mark. "Just in case." He said with a devilish grin.

Ranma went through it, and found himself in the middle of a real labyrinth. Great, just what I needed, Ranma thought with a sweat drop, and continued on.

Ranma looked down at his map, and immediately saw the significance it had. It's not a map that leads people to where they want to go, it's a scale drawing of the maze I'm in, he thought.

All of the intersecting and parallel lines on the map represented a maze, but Ranma soon realized that mazes were never his strong suit, and the walls were too high jump onto, and run all the way through like jumping rooftops, and it had too much of an incline, as a result, it could not be scaled.

Ranma tried one last option before walking down the maze. He shot a ki blast at the wall in front of him, but it remained intact, not even a mark.

"Damn it! These walls are covered in some kind of protection ward, and I can't blast, nor pummel through it!" Ranma cursed. Ranma's knuckles bounced off of the walls with a ring pulsing through his fist. That hurt, he realized.

"I was right, these walls can't be hit or blasted. Looks like my only option is to go through this stupid maze and see where it takes me." Ranma said, and consulted his map of the maze.

Left, right, left, straight, right, and another right, then stop. Ranma followed the map through, and he found himself in the middle of four intersecting paths.

"Alright, I think that first part was a little too easy. But now it looks like I have only three options left. I don't know if I can go back or not." In regular mazes, if you went backward after choosing which path to take, you usually get a penalty, but Ranma foolishly chose the straight path, and he was met with a dead end.

"Damn! I hit a dead end!" Ranma shouted out, and looked all around him for signs of the impending penalty. It looked safe enough, he thought. Maybe they wouldn't notice.

Before Ranma could walk back the way he came from, a pillar of light appeared in front of him to block his path.

"What the? Who goes there?" Ranma demanded.

Out of the pillar of light, a fiendish looking creature emerged, and stood half a meter taller than Ranma.

_"For trying to cheat, you must be severely punished!" _the creature hissed.

"Cheat? Who's cheating, you overgrown cockroach!" Ranma challenged, and got into a fighting stance.

The creature lunged at Ranma with its razor-like claws, but Ranma leaped back to avoid them.

It slashed continuously at Ranma, but its movements were far too slow to catch him off guard, Ranma thought. Ranma dodged the claws with his blinding speed.

"Take this! **Hissatsu Tenshin Amaguriken!" **Ranma shouted, and he jabbed at the dull edges of the creature's claws with his lightning fast hand movements.

A second later, the creature's claws shattered like a weakened blade. The creature was shocked for a moment, but this gave Ranma his chance to defeat this creature. Ranma leapt into the air and flying kicked the creature in its jaw.

The force of the kick sent the jaw clean off the rest of its mouth, and the creature disappeared into the light once again.

"I pass." Ranma said, and went back the way he came to where the four intersections lay. He decided to try his luck again and pick the path to the right, and surely enough, it was the correct choice all along.

… … …

After a few twists and turns, Ranma had gotten almost a third of the way through the maze. His efforts weren't wasted, he thought as he passed through each opening, and there was never any need to take his eyes off the map.

It felt as if he was a master of mazes. But before he could get any further, a hawk interfered and snatched the map from his hands in the blink of an eye.

Ranma looked toward the hawk, and it was flying into a completely different direction than what he remembered seeing on the map.

Still, he would not let the hawk fly away with his hard earned map. The hawk passed by a dead end, and it fazed right through the wall like a ghost.

Without thinking, Ranma charged at the wall, expecting to follow the hawk, but he crashed into it like a bull. Ranma quickly recovered himself, and shouted curses at the hawk for stealing his one and only map.

"Hey! Give me back my map, you stupid bird!" Ranma shouted. His voice was made a little too high than expected, which resulted in a giant echo which came back to him twice as loud.

"Ow! That's not a normal echo!" Ranma said, and cuffed his ears as the sounds he made came back to him twice as audible.

"Damn it, I never knew that the echoes in here could make your eardrums split." Ranma commented.

"Very well, then. I accept your challenge, birdie." Ranma said, almost to himself, and he stepped back a few paces, and drew his hands toward the middle of his chest, and concentrated on building up his ki.

A ball of yellow energy appeared between his open palms. It gradually grew until it was as wide as the narrow walls would allow. Finally, with all of his might, he thrust his battle aura into the ball of ki, which adds to the destructive force of such a technique.

Ranma's eyes blazed with confidence, and he sent the ball of ki at the wall like a jet airplane. "Go! **Moko Takabisha!**" Ranma shouted as the blast made contact with the wall.

As expected, a force field appeared at the last minute to defend the wall, but the sheer force of Ranma's ki blast was so powerful that the shield broke, and the wall disintegrated into a pile of rubble.

As the wall disintegrated, the blast still had more than enough energy to follow through again, and it continued down the walls after the first.

The devastation caused a whole mass of dead ends to be wiped completely out. As the smoke cleared, Ranma saw the end of the maze nearly a hundred meters away. Alright, I did it! He thought.

Ranma ran through the path created by the blast in less time than it took for him to get lost in the previous hour.

... ... ...

"Yeah, I did it! You see, I don't need a map to get through that stupid maze! All it needed was the old confidence striker, and I'm home free!" Ranma boasted, but he was interrupted before he could get any further. Shrill laughter filled the space around him, and the walls of the maze behind him disappeared.

"Who's there?" Ranma demanded, and stood on guard.

"I'm afraid you will get no further from this point on! I will be your opponent for the time being!" the voice said, and its incessant laughter continued.

"Show yourself, coward! My friends are being held captive right now, so I'd like to get on with it, buddy!" Ranma challenged.

"You should watch what you say, Ranma." The voice replied.

"Do me a favor and stop hiding!" Ranma ordered.

"You do not order me around, foreigner!" the voice replied back, and a kunai shot from out of nowhere and struck the ground between his feet. Ranma stepped back just a little before the kunai could get either of his feet, but it was as close as ever.

"That's cowardly! How dare you launch a weapon at an unarmed opponent! Take it back!" Ranma shouted, and threw the kunai back in the direction in which it came from. The kunai met with a scrape of steel on steel, and then there was a moment of silence.

Ranma still waited to see whether his opponent would show himself, or send another throwing weapon at him, still choosing to remain hidden.

Then, the voice came again, but this time it was choked and had a pained tone hidden in it. "Very nice, Ranma Saotome. I see that I have underestimated your marksmanship. How did you know where I was?"

"Easy! I traced the kunai's path back to where you originally shot it from, and with a little ki energy, your kunai found its way back to you on its own! So you should thank yourself." Ranma said jokingly.

"I see, you are a worthy opponent. Let us play a game." The voice initiated.

"Well, as long as it doesn't involve gambling. I suck at it." Ranma joked.

"The rules are simple. If you can find where I am located without using your ki tracing abilities in a set amount of time, you win. But if you can't find me, or if you succumb to cheating, I'll blow the entire place up with a field of dynamites hidden six square inches under the ground in which you have gotten yourself into. Are we clear?"

"Jeez, now you got dynamite under the ground! That'll make walking around dangerous!"

"Precisely. Now, would you care to try your luck, or would you rather surrender now and I can spare you the misery of your troubled life?"

Ranma considered the option of being spared from his miserable everyday life, what with all the crazy stuff happening in Nerima, his current job, and his annoying rivals! It would be great if I could just vanish from all of it, he thought, but then again…he was doing this to repent for all the nasty things he's done to Ryoga and Mousse.

Of course they can't be the only ones, he thought. If I can earn their trust again this whole rivalry will be gone for good! No, even if I do rescue them, they're still gonna hate me for the times I humiliated them in over a million fights. Yet, I plan to rescue them 'cause a martial artist never leaves a comrade in the hands of an enemy, no matter how bitter they may resent each other.

Over the years, Ranma has come to depend on Ryoga and Mousse for help on a few occasions. They saved Jusenkyo once before from the Musk and Phoenix, haven't they? After all that, Jusenkyo had finally returned to normal after two years. Ranma and Ryoga go way back, but he only met Mousse halfway, it didn't matter to him how long ago they met. The important thing is that Ranma never leaves the weak behind.

"I'm not leaving! I accept your challenge!"

... ... ...

A/N: Trick-or-Treat! I hope you guys celebrated some form of holiday for spirits, and other such things! This my Halloween treat for you, another chapter to add to my story! Please rate, comment, and review! The climax is just around the corner, look forward to it and I'll update soon! Happy Halloween, or Happy Hallows Eve!


	14. A Dangerous Game

**A New Challenge**

** - **Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content. All of it belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, and other creators of the series.)

** Chapter 13:** A Dangerous Game

… … …

"I accept your challenge, buddy!" Ranma declared, but he was answered by terrible laughter.

"Ranma, can you find me on pure instinct alone?" the voice called out after the laughter stopped.

"I won't get anywhere if I don't try anything. Tell me your name first." Ranma said.

"My name is Shiru, and the game starts now!" Shiru declared.

Ranma looked around for a sign of Shiru, but everything was shrouded in blackness. Where is that guy? I wanna give him a piece of my mind, he thought. Who cares if I use his ki signatures to find him, I gotta rescue the others, fast!

He closed his eyes and focused on a trail of ki in front of him, then he followed it, but it branched off into two ki paths, and then it twisted and converged into thousands of ki paths in the blink of an eye.

What the-? His ki signatures have split into thousands! I can't sense the real one! Ranma thought.

"Trying to catch me by using your ki signature tracking abilities? Well, it won't work because my specialty is to hide or split my ki signatures into many! You won't be able to find me with such an easy technique, Saotome! You'll have to find me by using pure instinct, plus you have less than an hour to find me, leave, and rescue your friends on time!" Shiru said.

If I can't find him by using my ki signature tracker, then maybe I could find him by listening, he thought. Ranma closed his eyes and focused on Shiru, trying to figure out where his voice would come from. He may be able to mask his ki signatures, but his voice can't be masked, so his sound waves should be able to lead back to him if I listen hard enough, he thought.

"If you're trying to find me by listening for my voice, it is useless. I have placed talismans all over the cave, and they will be projecting my sound waves from all directions! It is impossible to track me down without making a dozen mistakes." Shiru warned him as if reading his mind.

Is he reading my mind? Ranma thought.

"You haven't moved from that spot in a while, I wonder what's wrong with you! You'll never find me if you never move!" Shiru taunted.

There! Ranma thought, and he shot a blast of ki in all directions.

"**Giga Blast!" **Ranma shouted.

The cave went up in smoke, and a sound was heard! The sound of a thud, and a thud means that one of his blasts must've found its way to its target.

The smoke cleared, and a figure appeared, sprawled on the ground. Ranma ran up to it, and immediately rejoiced at the sight of his fallen enemy.

"When in doubt, shoot in all directions! It works every time!" Ranma boasted.

"Not so much as you think." Shiru's voice rang out, and a kunai came past Ranma's right ear, straight at the wall.

"Where'd that come from?"

When Ranma looked down at the figure who had fallen, he had vanished, and in his place, a piece of paper lay.

"I can't let myself be brought down by a ki technique like that. I won't be so stupid as to be brought down by a trivial all-direction shot. One thing I forgot to mention is that I am a master of Shikigami, and I may fill my place with a paper decoy!"

Ranma took the kunai and threw it in a random direction. The sound of kunai met with another kunai was heard, and Ranma fired a ki technique in that direction.

"Ah! Very clever, Saotome! You threw the kunai I sent you in the direction of my voice, and I thought you didn't have a sharp enough ear to hear my true voice!"

"Nah, I just knew where you were with pure instinct! Your voice had nothing to do with it." Ranma bragged.

"Oh really? Can you tell where I am now?" Shiru bellowed and a volley of kunai rang out in all directions, and fired at Ranma, leaving no blind spots targeted.

Ranma dodged two kunai, and jumped three, he rolled under the volley of five kunai, and spun blocked the oncoming of twelve kunai, all in less than thirty seconds.

"Is that all you can do?" Ranma taunted.

"There's plenty more where that came from." Shiru said, and another volley came at Ranma, but they had exploding tags attached to them.

When Ranma dodged five in the previous manner, they exploded when he got out of range of their striking points. All of the explosions caught Ranma by surprise, and his skin burned to a crisp when the volley finished, and he dodged all of the kunai, but couldn't avoid the explosions.

Exploding tags? Isn't that playing unfair? He thought.

"Have you given up yet?" Shiru asked.

"No way! Ranma Saotome never gives up! Even when his skin is burnt to a crisp, I'll send one of those knives back at you!" Ranma declared.

"Persistent, aren't we? All of my victims would have fled by now if they had survived all of my exploding tags, but you're different. Maybe I'll send you a special knife, one to your liking."

"No way, I don't play with knives." Ranma cracked a joke.

"You don't have the time or luxury to joke around with me!"

As he promised, another knife came hissing at Ranma, and he dodged it, as expected.

He's gonna have to try harder than that if he wants to get rid of me! He thought, then he got what he wished for. The kunai exploded again, but Ranma anticipated and he managed to avoid the explosion, but another explosion came from the back, and he was caught up in it.

That kunai was just a diversion, and the real explosion came from the back! That's really smart, he thought, and he hobbled on. If I'm struck by any more of those knives, I won't be alive to rescue the idiots!

"I hope you didn't have any plans for victory, or escape, because while you think you're a danger with all your fancy powers, yet you haven't found me. I'm safely hidden and I can see you perfectly."

"That won't be such a problem, buddy! Why don't you come out and fight me like a man?" Ranma taunted.

"Don't talk big if you don't have actions to back up your words, Saotome."

"It's not just big talk, I have the persistence of a bull, and I see you for what you are!"

"What are you talking about?" Shiru asked.

"You're a coward and you have shamed the name of martial artists everywhere! I see your reluctance to show yourself, and fight me like a man!" Ranma stated, and leaped toward a random place.

"You're striking out, without knowing where I am. How stupid."

"I don't have any choice, do I?" Ranma struck out, and grabbed the shadow in front of him. Immediately, he grabbed the shirt of Shiru, and held him at eye level.

"I found you!" Ranma stated.

… … …

"Hey, let go of me! How the hell did you find me?" Shiru asked.

"Not until you tell me where I can find my friends! I found you fair and square, now tell me where I can find them." Ranma threatened.

"Alright! If you go further down this corridor, and take the passage straight ahead, you'll hit the final level, but I must warn you, the path beyond that is even more winding, and the one waiting for you wishes to duel with you." Shiru explained.

"Who is waiting for me?" Ranma asked.

"My master, Hikari." Shiru answered.

"Alright, tell me, who is this Hikari?" Ranma asked.

"He comes from Japan, and he has heard stories of the infamous pigtailed martial artist, named Ranma Saotome. When he heard of you, he wanted to meet you personally, and he currently resides in Jusenkyo's underground catacombs." Shiru explained.

"Why did he do this? Was me getting a job here in Jusenkyo as a guard all apart of his plan to fight me?" Ranma asked. "If he wanted to meet me properly, and fight he could've sent me a challenge letter, and I'll find him, no problem."

"Don't joke, boy. Do you honestly think you can find him here on your own? Only I know his whereabouts, and your friends are probably somewhere else."

"How did you meet this Hikari in the first place?" Ranma asked.

"He found me like all the others. He saw my talent, and picked me up off the street to serve him in this plan."

"Couldn't he have sent you to guide me here instead of setting this all up?"

"He researched that, and found that you hate doing things the easy way. So, in recognition of your love of challenges, he assembled a small force and kidnap your friends, and it led you here."

"You didn't answer my previous question. Does me being a Jusenkyo guard all apart of his plan?" Ranma asked.

"Yes, all of it. He knew that if we lured you with the chance of a job offer, you wouldn't have refused a chance to gain a cure and get a job at the same time in Jusenkyo. It worked too." Shiru explained.

"Yes, I can't argue with that fact, but how did he involve the chairmen and that old geezer?"

"It was all simple, really. But, all will be revealed in due time. Now, you don't want to keep your friends waiting. My master has planned to do something dastardly to them." Shiru said.

"What was he planning to do?" Ranma asked.

"If you took too much time in getting to him, he would take your friends and kill them where they stand."

"He knows that those two will never give up so easily!" Ranma protested.

"Yes, but when we were ordered to capture them, we were told to transform them." Shiru said.

"He can't! He knows that their weakened forms can't fight back!"

"Right, so why are you still hanging around here? He is expecting you." Shiru initiated.

Ranma tightened his grip around Shiru's shirt, and then loosened it, and let him go entirely.

"When I'm through with your boss, I'll come for you next! You guys will pay for setting me up!" Ranma threatened, and disappeared down the corridor Shiru indicated.

"_If_ you get done with him." Shiru doubted.

Little does he know that his greatest challenge has yet to come.

… … …

A/N: I'm just delaying the inevitable end. I'm planning to end this story on a good note, so look forward to the next few chapters! The climax is almost here! Please rate, comment, and review this chapter, and I'll see you next time! Thanks!


	15. Initial Meeting

**A New Challenge**

** - **Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content. All of it belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, and other creators of the series.)

... ... ...

** Chapter 14: **Initial Meeting

… … …

Ranma bolted down the path indicated by Shiru after he was given crucial information on the whereabouts of his master. So many puzzling thoughts clouded his mind as he ran under pressure. Who was Hikari? What did he want? Is he someone he knows? If so, how does he know Ranma?

"There's no time to consider questionsto ask this guy. I have to know how Ryoga and Mousse are doing!" Ranma put an end to the overwhelming thoughts that clouded his mind.

Ranma came to a corridor that led to a fork, and there were three paths to choose from. I was told to go straight once I hit this corridor, but what if it was a trap? Ranma thought.

"There's only one way to find out if it really is a trap." Ranma said out loud, and concentrated on the paths that lay ahead. He closed his eyes and scanned the three pathways for any signs of traps, and sure enough…

"They're all fully loaded with traps, but the one on the right looks promising. I know he said to keep going straight, but I'm gonna have to go through the one that's the most booby-trapped. After all, if they have something to hide, it's natural that they filled one with more traps than the other two. Alright, Saotome, now's your chance to decide." Ranma said to himself.

He closed his eyes under pressure, and bolted down the right pathway, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

Ranma is a skilled martial artist, and he was trained in the art of sensing where traps lay, and where they can be activated. He quickly put this skill to good use, and scanned the areas around him, never leaving an area unchecked. For a tiny mistake on his part could mean a fatal one.

"Alright, so far so good. I haven't sensed any real trap. There are just normal traps like spikes, trapdoors, spears, and projectile weapons upon contact, there's nothing to worry about." Ranma said.

He spoke too soon. He was so busy talking to himself that he failed to detect a button that he clicked and pressed in with his foot as he ran. His foot left a depression, and immediately, the ground below him erupted with water, like geysers.

He was splashed with the cold water, and transformed into his redheaded female form. But, that was not the end of it, geysers erupted from the ground within a hundred meters from her position, and she was stuck in the middle of it.

"Damn it all! Why'd it have to be water?" she cursed. Filled with rage for her own carelessness, she dashed forward, avoiding all the geysers as she did. Even though she was careful enough not to get hit again, she caused another depression with her foot, and pressed it in.

"Great, what trap is it this time?" she asked herself. Glint. Ranma heard it, and dodged the speeding arrowhead that came from behind. Too easy, she thought. But, she thought too early again, and a dozen more arrowheads came from the same direction and aimed for the vital parts of her body.

Remember the training, avoid getting hit in the vital parts, knock out the rest, she thought, and ran forward, away from the arrowheads.

The first three arrowheads aimed at her back, and she dodged each of them by moving to the side, and they hit the wall instead of her. The next four came, two aimed for the back of her neck, and the middle of her shoulder blades. She turned around in response to that, and dodged caught the ones aiming for her neck, and spun out of the other two arrowhead's path.

Next came five that aimed for her arm, leg, midsection, and neck. She armed herself and used the two spearheads to knock out the ones that aimed for her arm and leg, then dodged the ones targeting her chest and neck.

"Is that the best they can do?" Ranma challenged, and walked forward with an air of confidence, but failed again to realize that she activated yet another trap.

She looked around her, and then the sides of the walls seemed to grow closer to her. Wait a minute, they don't look like they're moving toward me, they are moving toward me, and they're about to crush me if I don't move out of the way! She thought.

With all the strength her legs could endure, she sprinted down the pathway with her lightning speed, and avoiding activating the other traps that lay ahead. Suddenly, the way cleared and a light showed at the end of the path. That looks like an exit, maybe I did choose the right path after all, she thought. Then the exit's walls started closing in, and she looked like she wasn't going to make it through alive.

Oh no, the exit's closing, and I'm gonna get crushed if I don't get out of here fast! She thought fiercely. Then an idea sprang into her mind and she gathered her ki energy into her hand. I hope this works in delaying the closing, she thought. She focused and released the ki energy in a blast at the exit, and managed to destroy a good chunk of the closing sides.

After that, she raced out of it, and the walls closed behind her, closing the path she came through. Looks like I won't be able to go back the way I came from, she thought. She paused to gather her breath, and take in the scenery. It was not what she was expecting. Moonlight shown through giant holes in the ground (or ceiling from her position).

It's already nighttime, I spent so much time down here that it means I won't get a break. She managed to yawn, and decided against getting some rest right then and there. This is no time to be dozing off! I'm here to defeat the master of the plan, and rescue Ryoga and Mousse! She thought. I'm not doing this for their sake, what would Akane and the others think if I just left them to die? No, it wouldn't be honorable. Besides, if I was in their position right now, they'd probably do the same thing as I would do, go to the rescue.

"Now, where should I go? Damn it, Shiru never told me where to go to if I reached this point. But, he thought he was going to trick me, and told me to go straight, when in reality, I had to go right. The best strategy to use in that situation is never take the straight path." Ranma marveled at his insight, and kept moving ahead.

I guess I'm gonna have to navigate on my own this time, she thought. The moonlight showed in bright pillars, and it made it easier to keep everything in sight. So far so good, I must be going down the right path, she thought.

Along the ground, she noticed that there were three large springs. I guess Hikari must be fond of swimming in the moonlight. These springs must be here for a reason, she thought. Looking at the ground, a frog jumped into one of the three springs, and a light sprang from it, blinding Ranma for a moment.

Ranma managed to clear her vision at this point, and a dog came out of the water in the frog's place.

"It's a cursed spring! But, what's it doing way down here? Unless, this place is somehow connected to Jusenkyo, and there's an underground network of cursed springs!" Ranma rationalized.

She went a little further, and that confirmed her theory, there was a network of springs ahead, and she had to be careful not to activate their curses. This must be a form of traps, and one wrong move down here means that I might mix with that curse, she thought. She moved down the path with extreme caution, and found it to be weird that she was tiptoeing to get through the network.

Ah, what am I thinking? I don't have to be that cautious, now do I? She thought. Suddenly, at that moment a duck came quacking in a peculiar way, and it flew to her feet, and even weirder, it hugged her ankles in the least animalistic way.

"Hey, what are you doing, stupid duck?" Ranma asked, and the duck quacked a storm in response. "Hey, calm down, stupid duck! Quit quacking so much, I can't understand a quack you're quacking." Ranma stopped the duck, and the duck developed a tick mark on its head. In anger, the duck threw chains at Ranma, and wrapped around her legs and arms, and she fell to the ground, completely at the mercy at the mysterious duck.

"Let me go, stupid duck! I have to rescue my friends! I don't have time to quack around with you!" Ranma shouted. The duck waltzed up to her, and slapped her repeatedly with the back of its wings, and quacked some more.

"Wait a minute. A duck that can use chains, and looks as if it's as blind as a bat? I get it! You're Mousse, and you escaped, didn't you!" she exclaimed, and the duck rushed to cover her mouth with his wings.

_Quack! _That translated into: "I'm Mousse, and don't say that! Then they'll know for sure that I escaped by switching places with a random duck!"

Ranma read the picture clearly, and nodded her head. Mousse the duck let her breathe, and he sat next to her.

"Okay, I understand now. Where is Ryoga?" Ranma asked.

Mousse the duck shook his head, and quacked a sour note. It could only mean: "I don't know. I wasn't with him at the time that I escaped, and he could still be back there somewhere."

"You don't know? Okay, take me to where you were captured, then I'll catch us a clue as to where Ryoga is, and if I'm lucky, I'll miss Hikari completely and get you guys out of here." She said.

_Quack? Quack! _That translates to: "You want me go back there? It was like hell! No thanks, you're on your own, Ranma!"

"Look, if you don't help me, I'll make you into duck stew! We all got into this mess together, and I'm pulling us out together! You got that?" Ranma threatened.

Mousse the duck sighed as best a duck could, and it flew down the path. Ranma followed after him, and wearied for any sign of danger.

… … …

Ranma followed Mousse the duck for some time before he landed on the ground, and looked up at Ranma. She stopped and looked back at him, puzzled. Why are we stopping, she thought first.

"Um, Mousse, is there any reason we should be stopping? I don't see a way to our friend, and it looks like we stopped in the middle of a very crucial rescue mission. So if you don't mind, keep going!" Ranma urged Mousse the duck, but Mousse turned around, and flew up a hole in the ceiling.

"It must be way in." Ranma said to herself, and followed after Mousse with her incredible agility.

Mousse landed on a second level, and Ranma followed after. Mousse indicated with his wing to the path that lay ahead, and this time, Ranma got the picture. I think I can get there on my own, she thought.

"Alright, Mousse, if you wanna bail on me, you can. I'm getting Ryoga out, so I'll be fine on my own. You're free to go." She said, and ran ahead of the duck.

Filled with determination, bailing on someone was not in Mousse's code of martial honor, nor giving up, so he followed after her, and flew like a dart.

… … …

Ranma ran toward an exit, and it was revealed to be a very large dueling platform with a giant throne-like chair in the back, and moonlight hitting the center. Ranma was taking the large platform into view, and she marveled at the scenery. This is just perfect, she thought.

Then, squealing was heard, and she turned to find Ryoga the pig, or P-chan, in a small cage to the right. Without thinking, she ran to Ryoga's cage, and prepared to break Ryoga free.

"I'm here to rescue you." She said, and prepared to fire her chestnut fist technique, but she was interrupted in mid-strike by a voice.

"Oh, but not until we have our duel." It said, and Ranma turned to face the source. The voice came from the throne, and it was coming a small figure dressed in a beige cloak, cowl pulled up over its head so that the shadows concealed all of its features, but the voice was definitely male.

"Hello, Ranma Saotome. We finally meet, face to face. I am Hikari."

… … …

A/N: Here we are at last, the launching of the final challenge for Ranma. Is this his last duel, and will he rescue Ryoga, alive? The master of the plan has finally met Ranma, and the duel to decide their fate has come. Please rate, comment, review, subscribe, and I'll update as soon as possible! Thank you!


	16. Climactic Battle! Ranma vs Hikari! Pt 1

**A New Challenge**

-Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½, or any of its content. It all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and other media.)

**Chapter 15: **Climactic Battle! Ranma vs. Hikari! Part 1

… … …

Ranma stood on the dueling platform facing Hikari. He was prepared to end this battle quickly, and efficiently. But, according to the teachings of the Saotome School: Anything-Goes Martial Arts, you're supposed to wait for your opponent to make the first move, and then follow up with a deadly counterattack.

Ranma was starting to get a little impatient with all the waiting. Hikari had not moved an inch for a good five minutes, and Ranma was getting restless. When is this guy gonna attack? Ranma thought.

He decided to taunt Hikari into attacking. "Hey, Hikari! You lost your nerve, or something? You haven't moved for the last five minutes. I was starting to get bored over here!" Ranma exclaimed.

From behind Hikari's hood, Ranma could see a smirk appear on the areas of Hikari's face that haven't been covered in shadow.

"Impatient, aren't we? Why don't I let our guess make the first move? After all, it's not good for a host to go before the guess." Hikari responded calmly.

"Nice try, but it ain't gonna work!" Ranma shouted back. "That's just what you want me to do, isn't it? As the host, it's better if you show us the ropes, after all, I'm new to this sort of thing, and I want to use you as an example!"

"Very well, then." Hikari replied. Before Ranma could react, Hikari simply faded into the background, making him virtually invisible.

"What the-," Ranma shouted, "where'd you go, coward?"

Before he knew it, he was doubled over in pain, as if something made his stomach hurl over, and the source of it happened to be a punch to the gut.

"How'd you do that?" Ranma asked, and looked up at Hikari.

"Nothing, really." Hikari said.

Ranma got to his feet, but still held his stomach as he did so. He glared at Hikari, and watched for any sign of a parlor trick. How else could anyone just disappear like that? Ranma thought.

Instead of waiting for Hikari to make the initial move this time, he figured he should attack first, then ask questions later. That's exactly what he did, he ran at Hikari with full speed, and threw a fast right hook to the jaw, at least that was what he was aiming for. Before his fist could make contact with Hikari's jaw, he disappeared in the same manner as before, and as if Ranma got the wind knocked out of him, he looked as if he was kicked in the stomach, punched in the back, and chopped on the neck.

Ranma staggered a few steps in front of him, and struggled to regain balance, but the same invisible force attacked him, except this time they came twice as fast. First one, two, four, eight, sixteen, and thirty-two strikes hit him in a space of one minute.

Ranma refused to go down so easily, and he held himself up by the balls of his feet, struggling against fainting. No, he can't go down that fast. Ranma was a Saotome, and his style isn't to get winded, it's to knock the wind out of his opponent, unlike before, he actually saw through Hikari's trick.

"I figured it out! Yeah, the reason why you disappear when you do, I figured it out!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Oh, you catch on quickly, don't you? However, figuring out how I disappear won't protect you from my attacks." Hikari said, and reappeared in front of him, throwing Ranma back a couple paces.

"Anyway, I figured that this place is covered in shadows, and the only light that comes into here will be coming from those holes above us, and if I can only see you when you're directly under the light, you have nowhere to hide, except step back, and strike when I'm unprepared." Ranma explained his theory.

"Yes, I can see you were observant, but you are forgetting to mention one little detail." Hikari said. "You say I just step back out of the light, but that's not all. You forgot to mention how I fade into the shadows. It is like fighting in the dark, my friend. You can't see me, but I can see you perfectly."

"How do you fade so easily? It looks like you really did disappear, but there has to be some kind of trick, plus there's that speed of yours." Ranma said.

"You mean my ability of speed? Yes, I am able to strike you down with equal to or greater than your speed." Hikari said.

Hikari disappeared once again, but this time Ranma was prepared for his trick. Ranma focused on the ki traces Hikari leaves behind, this way it's like seeing him, yet not seeing him. Right. Ranma dodged the rapid succession to his right, and then left. He can see Hikari perfectly. Ranma waited for the right moment, and decided to try his Soul of Ice attack.

Ranma drew Hikari into the circle, Ranma fell backwards, and shot his ki reversal attack.

**"Hiryuu Shoten Ha!" **Ranma shouted, and he felt Hikari get trapped in the vortex. Hikari fell out of the vortex, and landed with a heavy thud. His cloak was ripped in many places, but his hood was still in place. Ryoga the pig, and Mousse the duck cheered in their little animalistic way.

"Now, let's see what you look like." Ranma said, and pushed the hood off of Hikari's head. Ranma stared in shock, what was left in Hikari's place was a head made out of paper. The head of paper blew away, leaving the tattered cloak behind.

"Now, do you really think I could be caught so easily? Haven't you ever heard of the substitution technique?" Hikari said from behind Ranma.

Ranma looked at Hikari as if he was seeing a ghost. "But, that's impossible! How can you still be alive after that?" Ranma shouted.

"I am the great Hikari, and I am a master of escape. I simply switched places with my shikigami in the nick of time."

"When was that?" Ranma asked.

"In the instant I vanished, I switched with my shikigami." Hikari explained.

That was the last straw; he would get Hikari next time! Ranma ran at Hikari, and prepared to launch another attack. Before Ranma could get even close to Hikari, Hikari grabbed a bucket from inside his cloak, and splashed the contents onto Ranma, transforming him into his other form again.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Ranma shouted.

"That, too, is apart of the battle. Do whatever means necessary to pull your opponent's weakness out. In this case, I activated your curse." Hikari said, and dodged Ranma's punch.

"How dare you! I'll get you for this, personally!" Ranma shouted her brains out.

"How about I cut to the chase? I'll reveal to you my special techniques, if I reveal all four in this match, then I can keep custody of your friends, and if I don't, then you win their freedom. How about it?" Hikari proposed.

"Yeah right! That's just another excuse to show off! Well, I ain't accepting the offer!" Ranma shouted.

"Are you sure about that? Behold! The first attack! **First Technique of the Hikari-Style! Four Points Paralysis!" **Hikari shouted, and disappeared again. Hikari reappeared in front of Ranma, and struck in four places. First he struck the shoulders, then the bottom of the spine, and finally the midsection.

Before Ranma could defend herself, her knees buckled under her, and she fell face first onto the ground, immobile. Ranma managed to lift her head up, and glare intensely at Hikari.

"What'd you do to me?" she asked. "My arms and legs feel like iron, but they're almost fifty times heavier!"

"Oh, that was called 'four points paralysis'. You see, it requires a certain amount of speed and precision. I must strike the points in your shoulders to completely immobilize your arms, but if I left your legs out, I might have to face a kick boxer, then I struck the point in your spine that connects to your pelvis, and your legs will go out." Hikari explained.

"Then, why'd you touch my chest, pervert?" Ranma asked.

"I never meant to, but that was to completely immobilize the points below the chest." Hikari said.

"Why can I still move my neck?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, I wanted you to witness some things before you are completely immobilized. I could have switched the 'four' in 'Four Points Paralysis' with 'five', that way you will not be able to move at all, but I don't want to."

"What are you planning?" Ranma asked.

"I was thinking of making this battle more interesting." Hikari said, smirking.

"Interesting, how?" Ranma asked.

"By boiling your friends alive, then we'll see how they like getting burned, and cooked! I'm hungry for some pig and duck right now! All I need now is a panda! Then, it'll be all complete!" Hikari exclaimed, and laughed maniacally. Instantly, Ryoga and Mousse squealed and quacked as they were tied up, and hung by a rope over a cauldron of boiling hot water. Even if they transformed back into humans, they'd die the instant their bodies hit the water.

"You're twisted!" Ranma shouted.

… … …

A/N: Sorry I haven't been updating for a week and a half, it's just that school's been really tough for us high school people, and midterms granted me no time to write back to you! Now it's almost thanksgiving for all us Americans, so I have the whole week off of school! Thank goodness! Please rate, comment, and review! I'll update soon, and the last chapter to this story will be twice as good as this one! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!


	17. Climactic Battle! Ranma vs Hikari! Pt 2

**A New Challenge**

-Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content, it all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and other media.)

… … …

**Chapter 16: **Climactic Battle! Ranma vs. Hikari! Pt 2

… … …

"I think it's about time to make things a little more interesting, don't you think so?" Hikari insisted.

"Interesting, how?" Ranma asked, now in his female form, and lying on the ground, paralyzed.

"I see you also agree that we must stake a little more on this battle than that. What fun would it be to lose, and have your hostages taken, and you lose everything you hold dear? I think that's a boring way to end this duel. I say we bring this fight to the next level, how about you?" Hikari smirked from behind his oversized cowl.

"Well, I'd hate to see such a big fight like this go to the dumpster if there's no stakes behind it! Alright, I'll take you up on your offer! What did you have in mind?" Ranma replied.

"How about we put your friend's lives at risk on top of yours? Let's say you win the duel, you get your friends back safe and sound, and you are free to do whatever the hell you want with me." Hikari suggested.

"Yeah, that does sound compromising, but you only said what you'd do if I win. What if you won? What will you do then?" Ranma asked.

"I'm very glad you asked. If I won, your friends are still freed, but I may do whatever I please with you. Either way your friends will be freed anyway; it's just a matter of surviving for yourself. How do you like that? Is that fair enough?" Hikari suggested.

"It's fine with me, but I'll hold you to it if you do lose." Ranma said in a threatening tone.

In the corner, the pig and duck were squealing and quacking up a merry storm as Ranma raised the stakes of the duel.

"Do you think you honestly have a slight chance against me? I have yet to reveal all four of my secret techniques, and I just used my four points paralysis technique. I'd say you already lost even before the battle got underway. Here I was thinking that you'd be more of a challenge the way you defeated my Shikigami, but no matter, you will face defeat today!"

"I don't care if my limbs are already paralyzed! I'll still defeat you!" Ranma declared.

"From where I'm standing, you don't look very convincing. How are you going to break my four points paralysis technique?" Hikari asked.

"A martial artist has more than one way to paralyze his opponents, and the most common way to paralyze your opponent is to block the flow of ki in the body at a certain area, and if you can hit these areas with careful precision, while applying a reasonable amount of ki to it, the two energies will react, causing my flow of ki to be blocked, thus leaving me paralyzed. Am I correct?"

"You hit the nail on the head with that one." Hikari commented.

"What most martial artists don't know about paralyzing is that it can be reversed. If the opponent who was struck by the four points paralysis, like you demonstrated, you can apply more force to these areas with twice the amount of ki you applied. That is, if you applied twenty percent of your ki into me, I can double it, and overcome this road block by forcing forty percent of my ki against your ki, thus breaking your paralysis." Ranma explained.

"If you think you already figured it out, why don't you try freeing yourself right now? Prove to me that you're not just saying this to give me a lesson in ki class." Hikari taunted.

"You'll regret you ever even crossed me!" Ranma shouted, and her aura flared in a blazing red around her. With her power at forty percent, she backed up her theory and broke free of the paralysis.

"Let's fight for real this time!" Ranma declared.

"So, you were holding back this whole time? I thought you had always been serious, but it turns out that there's more to a Saotome than meets the eye. I shouldn't underestimate your insight; it appears that you're not as dumb as you look." Hikari commented.

"That's it, pal! You're going down!"

Ranma lashed out with more speed than she'd ever used in her life. In a space of a second, Hikari let Ranma connect with his stomach, thus leaving him on his knees. Ranma did not let hikari recover, and kicked him again. It may not have been very honorable for a martial artist of Ranma's caliber, but Hikari had not been honorable, so why not return the attitude.

"You! How…did you…move…so fast?" Hikari asked through choked breaths.

"It's simple, really. What you failed to understand is now that I'm in girl mode, I gain more speed than ever before! I may have lost a great deal of strength, but the ki boost I gave myself increased my speed by forty percent! If I were to go full speed, you'd be on the ground, dead." Ranma boasted.

"Incredible…" Hikari whispered to himself. "I admit that you caught me off guard the first time, but it will not happen again."

He stood up, and disappeared yet again. Ranma used her ki sensing ability, but she sensed him a little too late. Hikari swung his leg at her chest, and knocked the wind out of her the way she did just a moment ago.

"That's a dirty trick!" Ranma shouted, clutching her chest, and heaving in pain.

"You should be grateful now that you're female; I was going a little easier on you, I hope you don't feel too bad. Yet, you should feel honored." Hikari said in an upbeat tone.

If that's what he calls going easy on a female, I'd hate to see him when he's going at full power, she thought. Oh well, I guess I'll have to use a little bit more power.

Hikari shifted to a defensive stance, and applied a little pressure to the atmosphere around him. He was going to use one of his techniques again, it seemed, but Ranma had been shifted onto her knees, and a crater had appeared beneath her, causing her to fall onto her front side. It felt like the gravity around her was being pressed on her fifty times the pressure.

**"The Second technique of the Hikari Style! Force Palm Mountain Crusher!"** Hikari named the technique.

"I'd like to see how you'd get around this technique of mine! Personally, this is my favorite technique to use on torturing my enemies! Unlike my first technique, this one deals with applying ki to the area around the opponent, thus causing the atmospheric pressure to increase tenfold, depending on how much ki I use! Currently, I'm using thirty percent of my ki, but this should not be difficult for it's as you said, you must apply twice the amount of ki I am using!" Hikari taunted.

Ranma struggled against the force of pressure pressing against her body. It felt like she was trapped in a narrow cage made of iron. Every time she tried to move, she felt like she had to use strength to move her limbs the way she wanted to. As Hikari suggested, she tried applying more ki, and it look like it's a lot harder to double the amount of ki if you're on the ground, and struggling against tenfold atmospheric gravity at the same time! This sucks! She thought.

Ranma closed her eyes, and began to think that she was never going to get around this technique. She thought it was hopeless to struggle against gravity, knowing that she defied gravity everyday, but this was different, this was gravity multiplied by ten. Imagine the pain of being held under ten times gravity.

Before she could lose all hope, though, Ryoga and Mousse snapped her out of her doubting thoughts. Ryoga and Mousse quacked and squealed for her to get up. Although they were both animals, and shouting things in languages she did not understand, she understood that they were quacking and squealing for her to get back up, and not lose hope. That's right! If I ever wanna see my home again, I have to survive this battle, and I can't do it if I'm doubting myself halfway through the fight! She thought; her confidence returning.

Before she knew it, her red aura flared up again, and like before, she broke through the technique. She was still panting, and heaving from the amount of force that was applied to her just now, and she had broken through two of the four techniques that Hikari had just used. That meant that she had two more techniques left, and if he was defeated before he could reveal all four, he would relent, and let all of them go free, but if he revealed all four before then, she and her friends would never see the light of day again! That was the deal before the plain field was raised.

Before regaining strength to fight again, she broke into a sprint to keep herself in the fight, before Hikari knew it, Ranma applied some ki to her feet, and ran with greater speed than before, in a matter of a half second, Ranma appeared in front of Hikari, and used her chestnut fist on Hikari.

**"Hissatsu Tenshin Amaguriken!" **Ranma shouted, and a flurry of lightning-fast jabs sent hikari bounding for the wall of the underground cave.

Ranma came upon Hikari, he was unconscious, it seemed. That meant he was defeated, and she won, so she could free her friends now, but she didn't know how to open the cage that held her friends. Ranma rummaged through Hikari's cloak, and managed to find a key hidden underneath them.

"Yeah! I got it! Sorry, Hikari, but it appears that I won." Ranma said, and got up to go, but she was unexpectedly grabbed by the leg.

Ranma fell on the ground, and when she looked back, Hikari had grabbed her, and he looked good as new. It's as if he never entered the fight before now! He should at least have some scratches on him, but Hikari was clean, and the force of the last impact should have left him unconscious, plus, one couldn't heal themselves that quickly, and not have evidence of being in a fight, even if he was a skilled healer, as well as a martial artist, he could not recover so quickly, there had to have been some sort of explanation. Then, it hit her, she looked to the right of Hikari, and saw a piece of paper there! The one she had been fighting until about a moment ago was another Shikigami! But, when did Hikari switch places with the Shikigami?

Then, she realized that when he disappeared for a moment, that's the only time he could have gotten the time to switch places with a Shikigami! That had to had to be it!

"You used a Shikigami! That's cheating!" Ranma complained, and Hikari let her go.

"It is not cheating. I simply used my resources to my advantage. It's nothing more." Hikari explained.

"You cannot free your friends if you cannot defeat me! I have two moves left, and if I use all of them, you lose everything, so now we have to uphold two bets." Hikari said.

"Just watch me!" Ranma shouted, and charged at Hikari again.

"It's useless! You cannot keep charging at me like this no matter how fast you are!" Hikari shouted. "You have yet to show me anything different."

Without waiting for Hikari to keep talking, Ranma came through his left defense, and attempted to catch him off guard that way, but it was useless. Hikari caught her off guard, and locked her in a strangle hold with his equally fast speed.

It didn't occur to her that there would be someone with this much speed. The way he counterattacked, and locked her in a strangle hold in less than a minute was more than enough to surprise her, and hold her in shock for nearly a second! She can't afford to be distracted again! The fate of her friends and her life rested on the outcome of the fight!

… … …

A/N: Hi, guys! I'm back with yet another chapter1 I have decided to make another part for this finale, for it doesn't feel right to end this story here and now, that's just too much work for me. Please rate, comment, and review this chapter and I'll be back with the third part of this climactic battle! Look forward to the outcome of the fight, and see what the fates of Ryoga and Mousse, and where they'll go after this. Thanks!


	18. Climactic Battle! Ranma vs Hikari! Pt 3

**A New Challenge**

-Chiba Hiro

(I do not own Ranma ½ or any of its content, it all belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and other media.)

… … …

**Chapter 17: **Climactic Battle! Ranma vs. Hikari! Pt 3

… … …

Ranma, now fueled by a new determination, stood tall, despite the wounds she had suffered at the hands of Hikari. The demented, hooded figure stood opposite from her, but he had no scratches on him. It was as if she never attacked him in the first place. Three and a half hours passed, and they still had yet to conclude this ongoing battle.

Hikari leapt forward with a speed equal to Ranma's, but since the battle had waged for as long as it did, she currently was too slow for his skill now. Without even having time to blink, Hikari grabbed Ranma into a hold.

"You're getting slower." Hikari said.

Why am I getting slower? I'm usually faster than this! Ranma thought, but in her present condition, she could not convince herself to overcome this obstacle. I didn't even see him coming! Is it possible that I'm getting weaker with every passing minute? Impossible! Ranma Saotome does not weaken with the growing minutes! She thought fiercely.

"Are you wondering why you're too slow? Why you're so weak? It's because you failed to touch the real me. While you were busy fighting off my shikigami, you were reluctant to include me. It's a shame that one of me wasn't enough to overwhelm you, but since my shikigami served its purpose by weakening you, I have yet to be shamefully defeated!" Hikari explained smugly.

"You think you're so hot that you have that thing fight me, and then interrupt somewhere in the middle, hoping to fight me fresh as a newborn baby! People like you should be left in hell to rot!" Ranma shot back, attempting to break Hikari's hold over her. Thankfully, her arms and legs were the only ones being held behind her.

Hikari bent her forward in an attempt to pull her arms back. Ranma screamed in pain as Hikari pulled her arms back. It felt as if someone was playing tug of war with her, only her arms were the ones being tugged.

"Hurts, doesn't it? I could stop. All you have to do is give up, and let me cook those pitiful animals for dinner." Hikari taunted.

"I…would…rather…**DIE!**" Ranma roared at the top of her lungs, and hot blood rushed through her body. The affect of adrenalin forced her strength tenfold, and she flipped forward, sending Hikari on the ground.

Ranma broke free, and jumped back about thirty feet.

Hikari got up, still not fazed by the impact. He dusted his shoulders off, and coughed a little, then stood normally. Doesn't this guy ever get hurt? I threw him to the ground with as much force as a boulder, yet he still manages to get up! She thought. Hikari took a step forward, Ranma took a step back, always keeping his movements in check.

Before she knew it, Hikari rushed forward with high speed movement. Ranma forced what little ki she had left to the soles of her feet, and burst forward at the same time. In the space of a second, Ranma launched her chestnut fist at Hikari, and Hikari countered it with a similar technique.

Ryoga and Mousse could not keep up with their movements, they could care less about the high speed fight, at the moment, they were occupied with not trying to get boiled into pork chops and duck stew. Suddenly, an idea came into Ryoga's pig-sized brain, he was nearly a pig leg's distance from the boiling water. With force beyond that of a pig, Ryoga sucked in his courage, and splashed the boiling hot water onto him and Mousse. In a matter of seconds, two teenage boys, one wearing a yellow and black striped bandana, and the other wearing big round glasses, stood totally naked, and red from the boiling water. As they transformed back into human forms, the boiling water left embarrassing red burn marks on them.

However, at the moment, they could care less about their 'situation'. As soon as they broke free from their bonds, they rushed at Ranma to help her. Ranma turned to see that her friends had freed themselves. Light dawned on her, and she immediately thought o running away with them. Now that Ryoga and Mousse had been freed, there was no need to continue a useless fight with Hikari.

"Guys! You're free!" Ranma exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's about time! Now, let's blow this joint, and escape while we can!" Mousse shouted to her.

"Oh, but you can't leave yet." Hikari interrupted. "We have yet to finish this battle of ours. If you don't mind, kindly wait for us."

"We have no intention of sticking around! All we need to do is get out, and that's it! We'll get as far away from this place as possible, and there's no way you can stop us!" Ryoga proclaimed.

"That's a good point, however, you cannot leave, because one, I have your clothes, two, I know the way out, and three, I refuse to see you go without finishing this duel first." Hikari listed.

Remembering their embarrassment, Ryoga and Mousse rushed behind a large stone, and poked their heads out from behind it to conceal their nakedness, however, Ranma and Hikari had already seen it at this point, but neither could care less.

"Right, you wanted to see my skills, well let me show you what it means to be a Saotome of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts!" Ranma declared with a new kind of aura. Immediately, her injuries forgotten, she leapt forward with a speed she hadn't been using up till now.

Hikari came at her, and both charged each other with amazing speed. Ranma charged a fist at Hikari, but he dodged it and leapt into the air, as if suspended in midair. Ranma followed suit, and the both continued their suspended fight in the air, both fighters struck with a flurry of jabs and kicks. Neither refused to fall to the ground defeated, then suddenly, time seemed to stand still for a minute, and Hikari struck at Ranma with a speed faster than light itself.

Ranma did not anticipate the act, and was hit in the stomach, chest, and anywhere just imaginable to be hit in. Ranma broke off from the assault, and hurtled to the earth headfirst. She barely swung her body around, but it only made the fall worse.

Time rushed back to play its part, and Ranma hit the ground, side first. Ranma let out a scream of pain, and clutched the aching side of her body. It felt as if she was hit by a truck, trampled by a pack of horses, and hit a couple hundred times by Akane's mallet. Her entire body throbbed, and her limbs refused to move, having to resort to rolling to move, but the very act left her in pain even more.

This was no longer a duel; this had become a fight to the finish. Hikari was definitely not the honorable type of person, despite his acting, and he did not seem to care that he was hurting a female. The code of honor, if you are a martial artist and a man, is that you should never fight a girl with such brutality, and if you end up brining her the amount of pain Ranma's feeling right now, then you have no right to be called a martial artist, or even a code of honor for that matter.

"Ranma! Are you alright?" Ryoga called at her from behind the rock. Ranma immediately shot him a glare, but the pain in her neck refused to allow her to glare for more than a few seconds. "Uh, never mind! Stupid question!" he corrected himself.

Ranma tried to get up again, but the very act of trying to move her arm was excruciatingly difficult to do. When you feel like you've been beaten into a pulp, but have not blacked out yet, that's what she's feeling right now. Her limbs not only screamed in pain, but they also felt a little heavy, right now, the only thing that didn't hurt much was her head, yet she still struggled.

"Feeling the excruciating pain, now have you? I have struck all of your receptive nerves. All I did was punch you a few times, and made you more sensitive to pain. If I were you, I'd just let myself fall into a deep sleep, and never awaken again. But, that's clearly too much to ask of you, after all, your pride refuses you to give into the pressure." Hikari taunted.

"Sh…Shut up!" Ranma shouted, her anger moving toward its boiling point. With all of her might, she hopped to her feet, and ignored the pain altogether. "I've had enough of this!" she shouted, and charged at Hikari, almost like Ryoga.

"You've forgotten to use your stealth and speed in this one, clearly your anger has seeped in and taken control. You have the speed, but you let yourself be overcome by blind frustration, and you come at me like a wild bull. How pitiful!" Hikari reminded her. At this point, she let go all of her sense of cool and grace, and instead replaced it with hot anger and impulse.

Ranma launched a wild, uncontrollable punch at Hikari, but Hikari vanished before the anger could make contact with him, instead of hitting Hikari, she slammed her fist into the wall ahead. Unlike most people, if they punched a wall with as much strength as she put, it would break their hand, but since she infused ki into her fist, the wall was the one that got broken, not her hand. That doesn't mean she didn't feel it.

Hikari reappeared behind Ranma, and she swung her leg at him, attempting to kick him somewhere in the side, but he vanished yet again. She made a one-eighty degree spin kick, and kicked the wall. The wall suffered the blow again, and left a deep depression on it.

"**HOLD STILL, WILL YA!**" Ranma roared. Her voice was like a dormant volcano erupting for the first time in a thousand years. Ranma and Mousse flinched from her voice, and shrank even further into the rock.

"Now, now. Mind your temper. We wouldn't want an accident, would we?" Hikari taunted.

"**YOU'RE THE CAUSE OF ALL THIS, JERK!**" Ranma shouted again, and struck at him again, but she was interrupted.

"Ranma, snap out of it!" Mousse shouted, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"What do you want, Mousse? I'm busy here!"

"Stop, Ranma! This isn't like you to charge blindly like that! Fight how you usually do! Get him into a tight spot!" Mousse shouted.

Light dawned in Ranma's mind, and she stood absolutely still and closed her eyes. Her red aura dissipated, and a new aura enveloped her. What was once red, became bluish-white, the color of ice.

"What's this?" Hikari stared, confused. Before he could blink, Ranma vanished from where she stood, and kicked him in the stomach with her knee. Ranma landed just short of him, and stood over him.

Hikari doubled over, and clutched his stomach. From behind his hood, Ranma could see Hikari's eyes burning with the anger she felt just moments ago. The Ranma that stood before him was no longer blinded with rage, she was replaced with a hostile, cold eyed warrior.

"Sister!" Hikari shouted, and Ranma was immediately replaced with another girl in his eyes. The girl from his memories had a very big resemblance to the Ranma that faced him.

"Sister? I'm Ranma, you idiot! Come back to reality!" Ranma shouted, and kicked Hikari back into reality.

"I just realized something, Ranma. For a minute there, when you stood before me, string deep into me, like windows to the soul, you looked almost like my sister when she was your age." Hikari said.

"That's good and all, but this is a duel. We're here to finish it, not reminisce about our family members, or whatnot. Get up! I'm not finished yet." Ranma said, and held her palms out cupped in front of her.

In the middle of her cupped hands was the forming of a ki attack. She was serious about ending the duel, literally ending it. If Hikari didn't react fast enough, Ranma would've obliterated him, instead, she waited for him to move.

"You either give up and show me the way out, or I fire." Ranma threatened in an icy tone. Her azure eyes stared daggers at Hikari, the very color alone made anyone shudder.

Hikari grinned. "You would kill me with that, while I'm down? That's not very honorable, Saotome. After all, you've been lecturing me about honor, and fighting fair, but it seems that you're no different from me, huh?"

"You shouldn't talk…you sound stupid." Ranma said without any anger behind the words, only hostility.

The ball grew a few inches bigger, but Ranma still held on to it, not ready to fire it yet. "Let us go, or else…"

"Or else? You really will kill me?" Hikari taunted.

"Do you want to have your funeral so soon? I'd be very happy to oblige. Now choose, our freedom, or being burned to a crisp?" Ranma threatened.

"Hypocrites really do get on my nerves. There's nothing like a hypocritical view from someone like you. You speak of honor and fairness, but now it seems that you do not believe in it either! Come! Strike me!"

"As you wish." Ranma said, and raised her hands behind high above her head. The ball grew two more inches until Ranma could hold it like a real ball between cupped hands.

"Ranma, no!" Ryoga shouted before he could stop himself.

Time seemed to stop for the second time in four hours. Ranma dropped her hands and aimed at Hikari. Ranma let the ki go and envelop Hikari.

"Ranma! What have you done?" Ryoga asked, angry and confused, "Why'd you kill him!"

"Relax, Ryoga. This isn't the last we've seen of Hikari." Ranma said, and what was left of Hikari was his grey cloak and scattered pieces of burnt paper.

Ranma's mood lightened, and she faced Mousse and Ryoga with a genuine smile.

"Let's go home now, shall we?"

… … …

A/N: Is this a sign of another plot growing? Or is it just me? Anyway, sorry I haven't updated for the last three weeks, it's because I've been busy with school, and end of semester is coming up, and I've got finals! **Ah**! Exams never leave me alone for any length of time, does it? That's just wishful thinking. Please rate, comment, and review! If I don't get back to you in the next weeks or so, it's probably because of finals, my birthday, and Christmas! So, Merry Christmas everyone! And a Happy New Year!


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